The Mancos Lady Bluejays volleyball team essentially did what it was supposed to Tuesday night: Beat a junior varsity opponent.
These Durango Lady Demons didnt make it easy though.
Durango jolted Mancos on its home court by winning the first set.
They surprised us. We were a little unprepared, said freshman Andie Paschal, who moved to middle blocker in the match.
However, coach Ramona Shepherd and her Lady Bluejays regrouped. They went on to take care of business in the next three sets to win, 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-18).
The first set saw a hungry Durango group of freshmen and sophomores ready to pull off an upset. Whereas the varsity Lady Bluejays mood on the court appeared as dreary as the rainy fall weather outside.
We came out in the first game and we werent bad, we just werent sharp, Shepherd said.
The Lady Demons capitalized on Mancos mistakes and led nearly the entire set in front of a shocked home crowd. An assisted block by Paschal and Courtney Colyer later brought the Lady Bluejays to within one at 20-19. But that was as close as Mancos would get.
The Lady Bluejays (7-3, 4-2 2A San Juan Basin League) would bounce back and never trailed in the second set. Durango did stay close. With Mancos up 20-14, two straight errors, and a block and kill by Durangos Taylor Marshall brought the Lady Demons within 20-18. Shepherd called timeout.
She (Shepherd) was like, Pull it together. I know you can do better. Were doing OK, but we can do better, Paschal said.
Mancos pulled it together with consecutive kills by Colyer and senior Erica Blackburn out of the timeout. The Lady Bluejays led 23-20 and tied the match with a kill from senior Aimee Johnson and a serving ace from Paschal to win the set.
The final two sets saw a Mancos team that looked much like the one that swept the Durango JV on the road 3-0 on Sept. 2. Every time Durango threatened in set three, Johnson killed those threats spike after spike, while Blackburn set up each play.
Set four was a bit more dramatic, as Durango didnt quit. Mancos built an early 6-point lead and maintained that advantage at 16-10. But back came the Lady Demons. After Durango coach Colleen Keresey called timeout, her group responded with a 6-0 run to tie things up. The Lady Demons again took advantage of Mancos miscues. Shepherd called her last timeout to settle everyone down. It would be Durango that wasnt in sync, committing two errors and a hit out of bounds to give the Lady Bluejays a 19-16 lead they would not relinquish. Mancos remaining points came off a Paschal kill and four kills from Johnson. She tallied 24 kills, 18 digs and 27 serve receives for an average of 2.4 to go with five blocks.
Blackburn had 35 assists, three saved plays and three blocks. Colyer had a 2.3 serve receive average and an attack percentage of 90. Paschals hitting was 88 percent and she recorded a team high in blocks with nine.
This is the first time Ive played middle, so I guess Im used to it, Paschal said. I like blocking and everything, so its pretty fun.
Mancos will host league rival Dove Creek (6-3, 3-1 1A SJBL) on Friday at 4 p.m. for homecoming. The Lady Bulldogs come in having won six matches in a row after opening the season 0-3.
Theyre always salty. Dove Creek is one of those teams I have never planned on beating, Shepherd said. There is just something about those kids there. I dont care how short they are, theyre scrappers. Theyre kids you just cant overlook. I think it will be a really good match).
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.