{"id":30756,"date":"2023-11-10T01:56:03","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T08:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mancos-teya-yeomans-decides-to-play-volleyball-at-montana-state\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:24:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:24:42","slug":"mancos-teya-yeomans-decides-to-play-volleyball-at-montana-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mancos-teya-yeomans-decides-to-play-volleyball-at-montana-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Mancos\u2019 Teya Yeomans decides to play volleyball at Montana State"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"I
I did \u2026 a thing? Watched by Brianna Yeomans-Allison (left) and Cole Allison (right), Mancos senior Teya Yeomans gives a what-did-I-just-do? look while reviewing her National Letter-of-Intent paperwork\u2013which she'd just signed Wednesday morning, November 8, at MHS\u2013committing her to play for (and study at) Montana State University. Joel Priest\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Her detailed volleyball career having already taken flight in Mancos\u2019 blue-and-white, Teya Yeomans will look to elevate her power-packed game to much higher heights in, appropriately, the Big Sky.<\/p>\n

As in both Big Sky Country and the Big Sky Conference.<\/p>\n

Making official Wednesday morning, Nov. 8, a commitment initially revealed last year via word-of-mouth and social media, the Bluejays senior at last put pen to paper and signed a National Letter-of-Intent to become an NCAA Division I student-athlete at Montana State University.<\/p>\n

\"The
The future is now. Mancos senior Teya Yeomans, right, autographs a National Letter-of-Intent Wednesday morning, November 8, committing her to play for\u2013and study at\u2013Montana State University. Watching at left is MHS Volleyball head coach Brianna Yeomans-Allison. Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dream
Dream realized. Mancos senior Teya Yeomans, right, stands with mother and MHS Volleyball head coach Brianna Yeomans-Allison after officially signing a National Letter-of-Intent Wednesday morning, November 8, to play for\u2013and study at\u2013Montana State University. Joel Priest\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Mission
Mission accomplished. Flanked at left by Brianna Yeomans-Allison and at right by Cole Allison, Mancos Volleyball senior Teya Yeomans presents her autographed National Letter-of-Intent officially committing her to play for and study at Montana State University. Joel Priest\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI think the second I stepped onto campus, it felt like home,\u201d Yeomans said, while roughly 50 onlookers \u2013 including teammates, coaches, family, school personnel and other backers \u2013 milled about MHS Gymnasium\u2019s lobby, enjoying a breakfast buffet stacked with occasion-specific snacks. \u201cAt that point it wasn\u2019t really like \u2018I could possibly go here\u2019; it was like \u2018This is where I want to be, this is where I want to thrive the next four years.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community there is super supportive \u2013 the community, the coaches and the team overall. On campus everything just felt right; it was perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the first female D-I athlete out of Mancos High School,\u201d beamed MHS head coach Brianna Yeomans-Allison, \u201cpaving the way for younger kids. I think younger girls will look up to that like \u2018It\u2019s a dream, but it\u2019s a dream that I can chase!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I look out and I see all of these young ladies \u2013 and young men \u2013 I want you to understand this is a small-town girl that had a dream \u2026 and is realizing that,\u201d Mancos athletic director Travis Greenlee said in a brief speech given before Yeomans autographed her unique documents. \u201cNo matter what you want to do, if you \u2026 put in the work, you can realize that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Bozeman-bound, the Mancos standout really couldn\u2019t have found more space to soar \u2013 on and off the court \u2013 by selecting the largest college campus in the nation\u2019s fourth-largest state. And volleyball? MSU likes to do that big, too.<\/p>\n

Led by head coach Matt Houk \u2013 named back in mid-January the 12th skipper in Bobcat Volleyball history \u2013 and associate head coach Jen Houk in 2023, the Bobcats just recently improved to 15-7 overall (8-4 BSC) via their 3-1 home win Saturday, Nov. 4, over Northern Arizona University inside 1,900-seat Shroyer Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

Inside nearby Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, site of this weekend\u2019s 2023 Montana High School Association All-Class State Volleyball Tournament \u2013 running concurrent with the Nov. 9-11 Colorado High School Activities Association State Championships \u2013 MSU once defeated archrival Montana before a Big Sky-record crowd of 6,378 back in 2002.<\/p>\n

The \u2019Cats are next slated to play Thursday night, Nov. 9, in Pocatello, Idaho, at Idaho State, then travel to Ogden, Utah, to face Weber State on the 11th \u2013 all while Mancos pursues CHSAA\u2019s Class 2A crown inside the Denver Coliseum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pretty proud that we\u2019ve been working toward her personal dream but yet a team dream of stepping onto that State Volleyball court, taking the whole team up there,\u201d said Yeomans-Allison. \u201cCollectively there\u2019s been a lot of ups and downs, but the girls have put in a whole lot of time \u2026 and they trust Teya. She\u2019s a great leader, and it\u2019s a great way to end her senior (season): This signing, and now we head off to State. We\u2019re super-excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeomans won\u2019t have any hesitation about reporting how things went to Houk & Co., either.<\/p>\n

\u201cI talk to the coaching staff at least once a week, and they\u2019re so awesome,\u201d she said. \u201cCoach Houk, this is actually his first season at Montana State, and he and his coaching staff \u2026 really care about you as a person \u2013 not just a player \u2013 and I think that\u2019s super special. You\u2019re more than just a pawn on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on his track record as a recruiter \u2013 he assembled the nation\u2019s top-rated class in 2020 for the University of Minnesota, where he\u2019d previously been since Spring 2014 \u2013 Houk\u2019s not known for stockpiling pawns, but rather queens.<\/p>\n

Especially if one needs replacing. One, say, like current senior outside hitter Kira Thomsen \u2013 who very recently broke MSU\u2019s career kills record, surpassing a mark set back in 1981, on Nov. 2 in a four-game home loss to University of Northern Colorado. Thomsen, coincidentally, hails from northern Colorado as an alumna of Parker-based 5A Chaparral.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s an absolute hammer!\u201d said Yeomans, considering a business major at MSU, plus a double-minor in Economics and Marketing. \u201cObviously when I get up there we\u2019ll see where I fit into the puzzle, but I think outside hitter\u2019s where I\u2019ll be playing \u2026 kind of filling those big shoes and, ultimately, making a name of my own. And I\u2019ve met other girls in my recruiting class. \u2026 I\u2019m so excited to get on the court, go through all the highs and lows with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us really slow down, to think about the size of this moment,\u201d Greenlee said. \u201cThis the accumulation of so much work \u2018in the dark\u2019 \u2013 so many hours of getting up early, so many miles going down the roads \u2013 to realize a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTeya\u2019s going to sign a paper \u2026 to play college volleyball. But not only that, she\u2019s going to sign the paper, to sign herself up for four more years of \u2026 work. <\/em>Of blood, sweat, tears, getting up early \u2026 putting in the effort to be the best that she can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing from Mancos, it is<\/em> possible,\u201d stated Yeomans. \u201cCoach Houk believes in me, everybody that I love has believed in me, and I just want to go, work, and prove to everybody that I deserve to be there. I just feel so honored.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the community we wouldn\u2019t be where we\u2019re at,\u201d Yeomans-Allison said. \u201cThe community support and the school support has made it super special; all \u2026 have played into her being where she\u2019s at.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Being from Mancos, it is possible,\u201d Yeomans says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,37,29,345],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-30756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-newsletter","tag-volleyball"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30756","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=30756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81194,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30756\/revisions\/81194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30756"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=30756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}