{"id":30701,"date":"2023-11-12T18:31:14","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T01:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dove-creeks-state-run-ends-in-semifinals\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:23:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:23:47","slug":"dove-creeks-state-run-ends-in-semifinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dove-creeks-state-run-ends-in-semifinals\/","title":{"rendered":"Dove Creek\u2019s state run ends in semifinals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dove
Dove Creek senior Kylie Gatlin (23) hammers a shot past the block of Cheraw sophomore Lili Ontai (14) Friday, November 10, on Day 2 of the 2023 CHSAA Class 1A State Volleyball Championships inside the Denver Coliseum. DCHS won 25-20, 25-22, 25-18 \u2013 ending the Lady Wolverines' season.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

DENVER \u2013 Dove Creek could make a compelling argument that they were the No. 2 team in the 1A classification this year.<\/p>\n

In the program\u2019s first state semi appearance in a decade, Dove Creek proved to the state that in a classification that has been notoriously dominated by Eastern Plains schools, Southwest Colorado has their place at the table on the state\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n

No team pushed eventual state champion Merino (27-1) as hard as the Bulldogs, and even in their three-set defeat in the state semifinals, Dove Creek made sure to leave their mark on the Denver Coliseum floor.<\/p>\n

\"Dove
Dove Creek senior Kalie Gatlin (13) attempts a one-handed set as Merino sophomores Jadelynn Powell (11) and Kya Piel (1) observe during action Thursday, Nov. 9, on Day 1 of the 2023 CHSAA Class 1A State Volleyball Championships inside the Denver Coliseum. DCHS would lose 12-25, 23-25, 15-25 to the Lady Rams, and again (20-25, 15-25, 23-25) on Day 3 as MHS eventually won the State Championship.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dove
Dove Creek junior Ralynn Hickman (10) hovers to hit between Otis juniors Layce Perry (12) and Maddie Willeke (7) Friday, November 10, on Day 2 of the 2023 CHSAA Class 1A State Volleyball Championships inside the Denver Coliseum. DCHS prevailed 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-20 \u2013 ending OHS' season.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dove
Dove Creek senior Halee Beanland (12) cuts a shot away from the block of Otis sophomore Aedyn Tribelhorn (22) Friday, November 10, on Day 2 of the 2023 CHSAA Class 1A State Volleyball Championships inside the Denver Coliseum. DCHS prevailed 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-20 \u2013 ending OHS' season.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dove
Dove Creek junior Ralynn Hickman (10) denies Otis senior Kayce Perry (4) Friday, November 10, on Day 2 of the 2023 CHSAA Class 1A State Volleyball Championships inside the Denver Coliseum. DCHS prevailed 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-20 \u2013 ending OHS' season.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Much like Merino, Dove Creek didn\u2019t lose to a 1A school through the entirety of the regular season on their way to a 26-4 final record, including a 4-2 record at the state tournament \u2013 with their only losses coming in their two meetings with the Rams in the bracket.<\/p>\n

The run served as the third straight year with multiple wins at state, an indicator of the caliber of athlete and continuity of program excellence achieved over that span.<\/p>\n

Coinciding with that stretch, seniors Kalie and Kylie Gatlin, along with classmate Halee Beanland enjoyed their last foray onto the court \u2013 having served as impact players during the course of a wildly successful past four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the girls can leave with their heads high,\u201d said head coach Lacey Murphy. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be prouder of this team and the great career end for our seniors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dove Creek\u2019s curtain call, a 25-20, 25-15, 25-23 loss to Merino, brought a close to the impressive careers with a cumulative record of 89-17. Kalie Gatlin surpassed 2,500 assists and 1,000 digs for her career, while sister Kylie also amassed over the 1K mark in both kills and digs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been amazing to coach these girls over the years, and I will definitely miss them,\u201d added Murphy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bulldogs, ending strong season<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,39,28,37,36,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-30701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30701"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81172,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30701\/revisions\/81172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30701"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=30701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}