So far this season, the Dolores High School volleyball team has played inconsistently on its way to a 5-5 record. Win or lose however, young players have gained valuable experience that could benefit the team in the future.
Bears fall to Pagosa Springs
Kicking off last weekend's matches at home against Pagosa Springs on Sept. 25, the Bears were defeated 25-22, 25-14, 25-12.
Playing some of their best volleyball of the season during the first set, Dolores kept things close before pulling ahead 12-11 on an ace by Larissa Umberger.
With the score tied 18-18 however, Dolores fell apart, surrendering four straight points to fall behind 22-18 before eventually losing the set 25-22 after a perfect tip by Pagosa's LaShae Smith.
"We controlled the ball really well (in the first set)," said Umberger. "Our hits were good, and our passes were good. We just didn't finish."
Struggling to find their rhythm throughout the second set, Dolores fell behind 12-7 after a kill by Pagosa's Brooke Kudelski.
The Bears rebounded, cutting the Pagosa lead to to 13-10 on a hard kill by Courtney Blackmer, before surrendering several points in route to a 25-12 loss.
Continuing to struggle throughout the third set, the Bears fell behind 12-4 early before allowing Pagosa to coast to an easy victory.
"Our passes were off in the second and third game," said Umberger. "We weren't talking as much and the energy dropped."
"We just got down on ourselves and made unforced errors," added Dolores head coach Gina Hollen.
Bears roll by Ignacio, Nucla
Looking to rebound at the Ignacio-Tri with matchups against Ignacio and Nucla on Sept. 27, the Bears played as well as they have all year and won twice.
Kicking off against Ignacio, Dolores cruised to a 25-11, 25-18, 25-13 victory before defeating Nucla in a five set thriller, 26-28, 26-24, 25-16, 23-25, 16-14.
Helping Dolores to victory were several underclassmen who, playing varsity for the first time this season, have improved.
"It's really special that I've gotten to play with varsity this year," said Bears freshman Cameron Elder. "(Playing varsity) is really helping (the younger players) improve."
Next up for Dolores will be a road matchup against Telluride on Oct. 3.
"We just need to clean up a few things here and there and build our confidence," said Hollen of her team's goals for its upcoming matches.
