One word to describe the 2016 Mancos volleyball team would be: young.
But entering her fourth season at the helm, head coach Brittany Lang prefers to describe her underclassmen-laden squad as “relentless.”
After last year’s 4-19 season, the Lady Blue Jays lost Anna Cox, Taryn Gordanier and Jessica Gutierrez to graduation. And their production will be missed.
Cox was the team leader in serves received with 399, Gordanier led the Jays in kills with 160 and, as the setter, Gutierrez led the team in digs (297) and assists (297).
The Jays return a handful of contributors in seniors Nicole Hess and Tayler Power-Bahr and sophomores Morgan Rose, Ericka Peacock and Mackenzie Benitez.
Last year, Hess led the team in aces (35) and finished second in digs (286) and kills (121), Rose led in blocks (35) and was second in aces (33) and Power-Bahr finished third in digs with 273.
But most of the team is composed of newcomers, including sophomore Andie Concannon and freshmen Emmalee Asnicar, Kasey Wallace, Magda Lana Halls, Talisa Bahr and Isis Jamie.
Lang said that although much of her team lacks varsity experience, they have the passion necessary to build a competitive program.
“The girls really want to be here, they really love the game and they’ll dive for any ball,” she said. “The incoming freshmen are really relentless.”
Lang specifically noted the potential of Asnicar and Wallace.
The loss of Gutierrez as a setter and team leader was significant, but Lang said that Asnicar is already building confidence at the setter position and Wallace has taken up the responsibility of being a talker and leader on the floor.
Mancos finished second-to-last in the San Juan Basin League with a 2-13 league record last season. But with shake-ups around the league due to to graduation and with a bright young group, don’t be surprised to see the Jays somewhere closer to the middle of the pack this season.
The Lady Blue Jays officially open the 2016 season on Friday, September 2 in a tournament at Rangely.
Until then, the group of two seniors and nine underclassmen are working on becoming a cohesive unit.
“Our goal right now is to create this vision and make sure we’re all on the same page with our goals and aspirations,” said Lang. “We have a young, young team, so that’s going to be a big trick is just getting them used to playing together.”