{"id":38348,"date":"2022-09-18T19:07:08","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T01:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bulldogs-down-bobcats-to-remain-perfect\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:43:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:43:49","slug":"bulldogs-down-bobcats-to-remain-perfect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bulldogs-down-bobcats-to-remain-perfect\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulldogs down Bobcats to remain perfect"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dove
Dove Creek senior Trista Barnett rises for a spike in a match against Ignacio at Dove Creek High School. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Dove Creek moves to 12-0, stands alone atop league<\/div>\n

Opponents often leave Dove Creek\u2019s gymnasium shaking their heads, wondering how to break down the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n

Case and point \u2013 Ignacio Bobcat senior Harmony Reynolds unleashed a thunderous spike that would have led to a collective celebration against almost any other team in the San Juan Basin League.<\/p>\n

However, a dive and a flash of Bulldogs chasing after the dig kept the point alive.<\/p>\n

Shortly thereafter, as the Dove Creek Bulldogs (12-0, 3-0 2A\/1A SJBL) collected themselves, junior Kalie Gatlin lofted a pinpoint set into the waiting trajectory of sophomore Ralynn Hickman, whose kill left the Bobcats stunned in exasperation.<\/p>\n

Even when opponents do everything well \u2013 which the Bobcats (6-7, 2-1 2A\/1A SJBL) executed for significant stretches of their match against Dove Creek \u2013 the Bulldogs turned the tables, stealing points before starting to impose their will over the course of a three-set win over the visiting Bobcats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bigger the competition, the better they play,\u201d said head coach Lacey Murphy after the victory, \u201cand that\u2019s been a big part of the mental aspect of the game that we\u2019ve been working on as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ignacio head coach Shasta Pontine had her Bobcats ready for the task, as the visitors hung tough in the opening set, before succumbing to the Bulldogs 25-20.<\/p>\n

Bobcat seniors Trinity Strohl and Laci Brunson helped the Bobcats put together a solid point string in the second set to pull the Bobcats within 14-13.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when the match changed.<\/p>\n

\"Dove
Dove Creek senior Rylee Hickman and junior Kylie Gatlin provide a wall against an Ignacio attack in a match against the Bobcats at Dove Creek High School. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dove
Dove Creek sophomore Ralynn Hickman elevates to spike the ball in a match against Ignacio at Dove Creek High School.(Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ignacio
Ignacio senior Laci Brunson serves the ball in a match at Dove Creek High School. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ignacio
Ignacio sophomore Marissa Olguin attacks the net as senior teammates Laci Brunson and Harmony Reynolds watch in a match against Dove Creek. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dove Creek responded with a decisive 6-0 after a timeout, headlined by a kill from junior Kylie Gatlin, all with senior Rylee Hickman at the service line.<\/p>\n

Buoyant with the confidence that makes Dove Creek one of the toughest volleyball teams \u2013 regardless of classification \u2013 west of the Continental Divide, the Bulldogs made the Bobcats pay for any small mistake, pulling away with a Lexi Gray spike at the middle of the net to put the hosts in front 24-15. Then, on set point, senior outside hitter Trista Barnett launched an emphatic spike down the line to put Dove Creek up two sets.<\/p>\n

Even after Ignacio took the opening three points of the third set, Dove Creek proved unflappable, responding with a 7-0 run to seize firm control. Ralynn Hickman poured across a series of unreturnable serves to expand the lead, while Gray blocked Ignacio attacks on two consecutive points to put the match out of reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cLexi reads the setter so well, and she brings such a consistent level of play,\u201d applauded Murphy of her senior middle, \u201cand she\u2019s able to get to the place where she needs to be every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rylee Hickman provided the assist for her sister on match point, as Ralynn powered through the ball with her right hand to cap the sweep, 25-16.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs sit No. 3 in the state\u2019s 1A classification, according to the most recent CHSAA coaches poll, but the midseason recognition means little to the overall goals of Murphy\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about postseason goals before the season, but we\u2019ve decided we\u2019re not going to talk about it again until we\u2019re at that point,\u201d added Murphy, \u201cIt\u2019s been our focus to make sure we\u2019re doing the little things right in each of matches along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next step in that journey takes the Bulldogs into an intriguing third meeting against the Mancos Bluejays (6-3, 2-1 2A\/1A SJBL) on Tuesday, Sept. 20, on the road. The Bulldogs captured their first two meetings, but have been made to work hard by Mancos. Tuesday\u2019s encounter will also be the lone encounter that factors into the league standings, where Dove Creek holds the top spot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Creek senior Trista Barnett rises for a spike in a match against Ignacio at Dove Creek High School. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal) Dove Creek moves to 12-0, stands alone atop league Opponents often leave Dove Creek\u2019s gymnasium shaking their heads, wondering how to break down the Bulldogs. Case and point \u2013 Ignacio Bobcat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[39,1235,29,345],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-ignacio","tag-newsletter","tag-volleyball"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38348","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=38348"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83998,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38348\/revisions\/83998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38348"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}