With deft awareness of her proximity to the net and recognizing that her teammate’s pass was sailing toward the antenna, Dolores setter Madi Thornbrugh elevated and contorted her body to gently redirect the ball over the outstretched arms of a Norwood blocker and onto the line.
The home student section erupted, along with the Dolores bench, with the cheers of “She’s a freshman!”
Such has the Dolores volleyball program’s trajectory gone in recent weeks – a youthful squad continues to make plays that show the potential for DHS for the rest of the 2023 campaign.
Kicking off a stretch in which the Bears will host five of their final six matches of the season, Dolores showcased some stretches of brilliant play, but couldn’t sustain the momentum against visiting Norwood in a 26-24, 25-18, 25-23 defeat to the Mavericks.
The Bears (1-14, 0-7 2A/1A San Juan Basin League) saw their seniors lift the energy right from the opening serve, and the two teams traded lengthy rallies in the first set. Class of 2024 middle hitter Mikayla Puett helped the Bears to control net play in the early going, smashing a cross-court kill to help the Bears rattle off five straight points and a 12-8 lead.
Classmate Kayla Tallmadge posted a thunderous block moments later to keep the Bears lead at four points, up 17-13.
Norwood (4-10, 2-2 2A/1A SJBL) slowly chipped away, however, to pull even at 20-all, keeping the Bears back line of sophomore Keeley Clark, junior Savannah Steigelmeyer, and freshman Kendall Chavez busy keeping plays alive. The Bears fended off one Maverick set point to level the score at 24, but Norwood tallied the final two points of the set to take a 1-0 lead.
Fifteenth-year head coach Gina Hollen kept a steady rotation of Bears on the floor, with sophomores Taylor Erautt, Zoey Gilstrap, Tierney Marsell, and Julianne Vega seeing plenty of court time.
“We’re learning that every single one of our girls has the ability to bring the team up,” said Hollen, “A lot of our girls are making the adjustment to playing at such a fast pace at the varsity level.”
The Mavericks jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the second set, and Dolores never truly threatened to close the gap in a 25-18 second set.
Instead of going quietly, though, the Bears found another burst of adrenaline to begin the third set, urged on by their home fans. Erautt, Puett and Thornbrugh collected kills in a stretch that once again saw the Bears seize control, building a four-point edge midway through the set.
The Mavs answered with a big run, and up 23-20, it looked like the Bears might be done. Not so – the home team responded with a couple hustle points as the back line kept the ball alive to pull within one.
It wouldn’t be enough in the end, as Norwood clawed out the final point to complete the sweep, winning the rubber match between the two squads after splitting their previous two encounters.
Even in a loss, the evidence on the court of big-picture improvement appeared for the Bears head coach, “We’re getting better,” said Hollen. “Even when there are frustrations, we’re learning how to push through those.”
Dolores hopes to keep developing as they head into the final weeks of the season – as they look to bounce back against Creede on Saturday, Oct. 7. Four SJBL matches remain on the schedule, beginning with a Thursday, Oct. 12, contest against Dove Creek, then a match against Telluride on the following Thursday.
