{"id":38473,"date":"2022-09-09T18:54:39","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T00:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mancos-volleyball-seeks-best-season-in-years\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:44:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:44:36","slug":"mancos-volleyball-seeks-best-season-in-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mancos-volleyball-seeks-best-season-in-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Mancos volleyball seeks best season in years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Mancos Bluejays celebrate a point in a match against the Dolores Bears. (Ben Bradley\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The resounding thump of solid contact between palm and ball reverberates throughout the Mancos gym.<\/p>\n

The sphere crashes into the hardwood, sending the Bluejays into a brief celebration before they return their focus to the next point.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sequence that requires six players in the creation of another point \u2013 and when executed effectively \u2013 is a seamless flow of movement and constant conversation.<\/p>\n

For Mancos volleyball, the 2022 Jays appear to have a rhythm and confidence that could send them to one of the best seasons in program history. After starting to emerge as a San Juan Basin League threat in 2021, narrowly missing out on their first above-. 500 season since 2014, Mancos appears poised to become a powerful program in the 2A landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put in a lot of time in the offseason,\u201d said third-year head coach Brianna Yeomans-Allison. \u201cThese players have really led a shift in culture for Mancos volleyball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four seniors headline the Mancos upperclassmen, as libero Shelby Jabour and setter Jessie Wallace anchor an active back line for the Mancos six-two alignment. Classmates Riley Cannon and Audrey Stockton have remained as key cogs in the Bluejay rotation \u2013 as Mancos looks to attack from all angles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so much depth this year,\u201d added Yeomans-Allison, \u201cand we want our girls to be able to take chances \u2013 which has led to them being more aggressive at the net.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ever since her first varsity match as a freshman, the Bluejay offense centers around junior Teya Yeomans, whose attacking prowess puts her among the best in the 2A classification.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely turn to her a lot to make big plays for us,\u201d said Yeomans-Allison, \u201cbut I think that our depth will take some of the pressure off of her, and that will make her even more dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeomans led the Jays with 250 kills from a year ago, thanks in part to Wallace\u2019s pinpoint sets. Now Mancos will see a number of first-year players emerge to help disperse the attack volume all across the net.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (the freshmen) have been gaining confidence right from the opening matches, and we\u2019re seeing players like Aysia Mathews and Claire Goodwin bring a really good energy to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mancos will lean on their leaders to help the Bluejays contend in a deep San Juan Basin League. Two early season matchups against Dove Creek \u2013 both ending in defeat \u2013 are the lone setbacks for the Jays. Intriguing contests against Montezuma-Cortez on Tuesday, Sept. 13 and a feisty Nucla squad four days later lead up to a third meeting with the Bulldogs on Sept. 20 in Mancos.<\/p>\n

A rematch of a five-set thriller against Ignacio awaits on the horizon in October, while a trip the San Luis Valley in late October helps the Jays tune up for another push in 2A regional play. A 20-win season, something that the Bluejays last achieved in 2011, appears to be squarely in the sights of the program as they hit their midseason stride.<\/p>\n

Bluejays turn tide against Dolores<\/div>\n

Along with their last winning season coming in 2014, the Jays also celebrated their most recent win over Dolores eight seasons ago \u2013 spanning a series of 20 consecutive Bear victories in the rivalry.<\/p>\n

That streak officially came to a screeching halt Thursday night, as the Bluejays (5-2, 2-0 2A\/1A SJBL) seized firm control right from the opening serve, sweeping Dolores 25-21, 25-19, 25-13.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a number of players step up for us tonight,\u201d added Yeomans-Allison, \u201cAysia (Mathews) played a great match, and we had a number of other girls capitalizing on opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bluejays feasted on kill opportunities, as Yeomans, Mathews, and Higgins kept the Bears off-balance.<\/p>\n

Goodwin fired a dominant serve sequence that Dolores struggled to return, helping the Bluejays pull away in the third set. Yeoman and Stockton also collected kills in a 10-1 stretch, pushing Mancos to a perfect start in league play.<\/p>\n

Bears (2-7, 0-2 2A\/1A SJBL) junior Mikayla Puett compiled a number of strong plays to lift the hosts\u2019 spirits, but the Bluejays proved to be too much in the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited about the direction we\u2019re moving,\u201d said Yeomans-Allison, \u201cand that\u2019s testament to the hard work and dedication that these girls have put into this program.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bluejays stop rival Dolores\u2019 longtime winning streak <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,28,37,29,345],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","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\/38473","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=38473"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84037,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38473\/revisions\/84037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38473"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}