At times this season, the Dolores High School volleyball team has played well. According to head coach Gina Hollen however, the Bears are still searching for consistency.
Bears defeat Monument Valley
Showing how good they can be on Sept. 11, the Bears shined throughout a road matchup against Monument Valley, winning 25-22, 25-21, 25-23.
The win was impressive in light of the fact that one week before, the Bears squeaked by Monument Valley in five sets.
"I felt like we played well against (Monument Valley)," said Hollen. "We did a good job of communicating and working together as a team."
Bears fall to Mancos
Looking to continue its solid play against Mancos on Sept. 16, the Bears struggled, losing 25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 25-18.
Key in the Bears loss were several defensive breakdowns early in the match that allowed Mancos to win the first two sets.
"Just too many mistakes on our part," said Hollen. "We weren't covering our defense."
After Hollen tweaked her lineup before the start of the third set, and the Bears kept things close before pulling ahead 15-13 on an ace by Bailey Boyd.
Consecutive spikes by Courtney Blackmer extended the Dolores lead to 17-13, but a 5-1 5-1 run by Mancos allowed the Bluejays to tie the set, 18-18.
After several Mancos hitting errors, two kills by Taylor Elder and a hard cross-court spike by Blackmer, the Bears pulled away, winning the set 25-21.
"The difference (in the third set) was that we actually played together as a team and minimized our mistakes," said the Bears' Kelly Charles.
The Bears cohesiveness disappeared in the fourth set however, as Mancos jumped out to a 5-1 lead.
Although Dolores eventually cut the Mancos lead to 15-14 after a block by Elder and a spike down the line by Blackmer, the Bluejays eventually pulled away in route to a 25-18 set victory.
Discussing her team's play after the match, Dolores setter Larissa Umberger emphasized that at this point in the season, the Bears are a work in progress.
"We've got a lot of raw talent," said Umberger. "We just need to learn to develop it, work together with it and find our strengths."
Now 3-2 on the season, the Bears will next play at home against Norwood on Sept. 18 and Ridgway on Sept. 20.
"It's definitely important to have the home crowd," said Charles, discussing the Bears upcoming matchups. "It warms our hearts to have everyone there to support us and it feels great when the home crowd goes wild."
