Halfway through the high school volleyball season, improvements are evident for the Mancos Bluejays. Thus far however, such improvements have not translated into wins.
Opening the Dolores-Tri on Saturday, Sept. 28, against the Dolores Bears, the Bluejays fought hard before eventually falling in three sets, 15-25, 20-25, 11-25.
Even with the loss, however, Bluejays' head coach Brittany Lang was pleased with her team's effort.
"Our game against Dolores was probably the best game that we played all season," said Lang. "Both teams made very few errors, so all the points received were points that we earned or they earned."
Playing impressively for the Bluejays' against the Bears were Emily Funmaker, Taryn Gordanier, Jessica Willburn and Jessica Gutierrez.
Funmaker registered a 66 percent perfect-pass rate, Gordanier had three stuff-blocks and both Willburn and Gutierrez hit 100 percent of their serves in bounds.
After their match against the Bears, the Bluejays played the Ignacio Bobcats and lost for the second consecutive time, 23-25, 23-25, 25-16, 22-25.
Leading the way for the Bluejays against the Bobcats was Courtney Collyer, who recorded nine total blocks.
"(Collyer) is really consistent up front," said Lang, of her standout junior's play. "There's a real trust when she is in the front row."
With their season record now at 3-6, the Bluejays will continue working in preparation for a Friday, Oct. 4, road matchup against the Dove Creek Bulldogs.
"We've been really focusing on being aware of what is happening on the other side," Lang said. "That's just a knowledge of the game that we are developing that's really important."
imaclaren@cortezjournal.com