If Teya Yeomans of Mancos could choose an opponent Thursday to receive her 1,000th career kill, she might have chosen Solymar Cosio.
Senior versus senior. Power versus power. Mancos versus Ignacio.
Going into Thursday night’s match needing only three kills for the milestone, Yeomans got a one-on-one with Ignacio’s big right as she and the Jays trailed the Volleycats 1-0 in the teams’ third best-of-five match of 2023.
Needing just one point to take Game 2, Yeomans uncoiled Mancos High School’s fiercest right arm since the days of Aimee Johnson, and forced the history-making kill off Cosio’s block and out of bounds.
Ignacio senior Maci Barnes began Game 3 scoring with a tip, only to see Yeomans answer with another kill. Barnes then tried a harder attack, but netted. Cosio, however, tied the score at 2-2 by blocking Mancos sophomore Claire Goodwin, but Mancos scored 10 of the next 11 points.
The lead grew to 18-5 via a kill by freshman Aubree Wyatt, and Ignacio coach Jennifer Seibel used a timeout to give her players a chance to refocus. Mancos sophomore Aysia Mathews resumed play acing IHS freshman Lainee Bradley, and freshman Bailey Beh followed with a kill for a 20-5 advantage. Yeomans would bring Mancos to game point, 24-11, by ripping another kill off a block, but the ’Cats stayed alive with senior Darlyn Mendoza-Lechuga zipping a ball through Goodwin’s hands. A Mathews tip shot then failed, but the Lady Jays would win 25-13 via senior Haylie Higgins’ kill off Ignacio junior Ollyvia Howe’s block.
“I think it was just that one point led to another and another, and we had the momentum on our side,” Yeomans said. “Then we just continued to carry that over, kept the energy high the whole time – even if we lost a point.”
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Able to gain a 5-4 lead in Game 1 via a Cosio kill, Ignacio then led the rest of the way – their 25-21 win highlighted by freshman Kelly Sirios’ back-to-back-to-back service aces, increasing Ignacio’s lead to 17-10.
Ignacio opened Game 4 with Cosio putting away a MHS over-pass. Goodwin answered, but Ignacio senior Kacey Brown regained the lead with a kill. Ignacio’s lead grew to 4-2 before Mancos (13-1 overall; 7-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin, 5-0 2A SJBL) went on a 6-0 run including a Yeomans ace and a Mathews stuff-down of a poor serve reception. And though the Volleycats (11-5; 4-2, 4-2) were able to constantly remain within two or three points, they never got closer than 18-16 the rest of the way.
“Props to Ignacio; they played great,” Yeomans said. “They were getting everything up, didn’t let anything hit ground.”
Cosio scored with a tip to give IHS one last bit of hope at 23-18, but Yeomans countered with a tip over a double-block to bring up match point, then tooled a kill of Cosio’s block to complete a 21-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-18 victory in the Jays’ designated National Breast Cancer Awareness Month match.
“We tried to correct our passing, because our passing wasn’t amazing in Telluride,” Higgins said, alluding to MHS’ slim five-game road win on Saturday, Sept. 30. “But we pulled through and passed like we were supposed to.”
The Jays will next see action on Saturday, Oct. 7, when they travel to Ridgway (2-10; 1-4, 1-3) for a varsity doubleheader. That afternoon, Ignacio will play at Nucla (5-9; 2-4, 0-2 1A SJBL).
After the teams’ post-match handshake, Mancos A.D. Travis Greenlee took a microphone and delivered a brief speech saluting Yeomans’ achievement. He then presented her a commemorative golden ball.
“Whenever a game’s on the line I tell my teammates ‘Trust me!’” she said, of her 1,000th kill. “So I think that just showed the trust on our team; they were like ‘We’re going to give it to you!’ We did our jobs and put it in their court.”
“I’m, like, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel; everything’s just paying off,” Yeomans continued, speaking in the context of her senior season beginning to wind down. “And the community … to have everybody I love supporting me, and recognizing the hours that no one really sees, that’s pretty special.”
