The Pagosa Springs High School Lady Pirate volleyball team fell to 1-6 last week with two losses, but snapped its six-game losing streak Tuesday night with a win over Montezuma-Cortez.
The Lady Pirates are now 2-6 on the season and 1-1 in Intermountain League (IML) play.
The Lady Pirates lost to the 4A Durango Demons on Thursday, Sept. 3, and lost at home to the 2A Centauri Falcons on Saturday, Sept. 5, both by scores of 3-0.
In an email to The SUN, coach Chelsea Caler emphasizes that the team is struggling to transfer its execution from practice to games.
“We do so many good things in practice, but when the pressure comes on, we don’t always execute those same things consistently yet,” Caler wrote. “We can get a little frantic, stop trusting ourselves and let the basics slip.”
Against Durango, the No. 3-ranked 4A squad, the girls lost 25-9 in the first set, 25-12 in the second and 25-15 in the third.
Dawson Iverson led the team with 12 kills. Veda Deitemeyer and Sydney Plake each had three. Avea Bruce had two and Ellie Vining had one.
Deitemeyer led the team with three aces in the match, and Iverson and Liana Vega each had one.
The Lady Pirates finished with 13 attacking errors and nine serving errors in the match.
Tatiana Monterroso led the team with 10 digs, and Vega led the team with 19 assists.
Against Centauri, an IML opponent and the No. 23 ranked 2A squad, the Lady Pirates lost the first set 25-12, the second set 25-20 and the third set 25-15.
Iverson once again led the team with nine kills. Vining had two, and Plake, Bruce and Deitemeyer each had one.
Plake led the team with three aces, and Iverson had two.
The Lady Pirates as a team committed 18 attacking errors and nine service errors.
Vega led the team with six digs and 12 assists in the match.
Despite the losses last week, Caler indicates she is still impressed with what she has seen from her offense in spurts.
“Dawson continues to lead us offensively, but we’ve also seen some big swings and kills from Sydney, Avea, Ellie and Veda,” wrote Caler. “We know there is a lot of power brewing there, and they’re getting really close to putting it all together consistently.”
Caler also highlights Monterroso’s serve receive and defense, as well as Vega’s work as the setter and her overall leadership.
The Lady Pirates were able to snap their six-game losing streak and pick up a league victory with a 3-0 win over Montezuma-Cortez, the No. 46 3A team, on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
“The biggest highlight was our composure,” Caler wrote. “We passed really well, our block looked much more cleaned up, and we stayed in our system instead of letting one bad play turn into several.”
The Lady Pirates won the first set 25-18, the second set 25-20 and the third set 25-23.
Iverson led the team with 11 kills. Vining and Plake had 10 kills apiece. Bruce had five and Deitemeyer had one to round it out.
Monterroso led the team with five aces. Iverson had three aces, Vega had two and Bruce had one.
Iverson led the team with 10 digs. Monterroso had nine, and Nevaeh Evans, Darria Fiorenza and Bruce each had six digs.
Vega led the team with 30 assists.
The Lady Pirates had 18 attacking errors and 12 service errors.
“For us, it’s about using the win as confidence, not complacency,” wrote Caler, adding, “we’ve been putting in a lot of work, and last night we finally saw a lot of those pieces come together in a live game. Now we have to turn around, get back in the gym and keep building on it.”
The Lady Pirates, who sit as the No. 47 team in 3A, will travel to Del Norte on Thursday Sept. 10 and Telluride on Saturday, Sept. 12.
Today, Thursday, Sept. 10, the Lady Pirates will take on the 2A Del Norte Tigers beginning at about 6 p.m.
Del Norte is 6-2 and ranked No. 12 in 2A.
On Saturday, Sept. 12, the Lady Pirate will match up against the 2A Telluride Miners at about 1 p.m.
Telluride is 4-4 and ranked No. 40 in 2A.
The Lady Pirates will be back on the road on Tuesday, when they head to Bayfield to take on the 3A Wolverines, who are 1-4 on the season and 1-0 in the IML.
The Wolverines sit as the No. 34 team in 3A.
Action is set to begin at about 6 p.m.
Caler emphasizes that the girls will be working on blocking, defensive reads, transition and getting the hitters ready and available to attack early.
She also notes that she wants her hitters to swing aggressively this week and not worry about attacking errors.
“We have the ability to play really good volleyball, and we’ve seen it in practice and in stretches of matches,” Caler wrote. “Now we’re learning how to stay composed, stay aggressive and keep playing our game when things get tough.”
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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