{"id":39010,"date":"2022-08-09T23:28:55","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T05:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ignacio-volleyball-wants-rerun-of-2021\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:47:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:47:54","slug":"ignacio-volleyball-wants-rerun-of-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ignacio-volleyball-wants-rerun-of-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Ignacio volleyball wants rerun of 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Now
Now a senior, Ignacio's Trinity Strohl will again bring plenty of positivity to the volleyball court in 2022 as well as versatility; she can play either outside hitter or libero, her primary role last fall. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Having raised the bar higher during the fall 2021 season than any Ignacio volleyball squad had in roughly a generation, the returning \u2019Cats will be eager to keep it there in \u201922.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re coming off a \u2018high,\u2019\u201d second-year head coach Shasta Pontine said, alluding to IHS\u2019 march to last fall\u2019s CHSAA Class 2A State Championships in Colorado Springs, \u201cand hopefully they can continue with \u2026 building the Ignacio program. That\u2019s what\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having already seen the Volleycats (19-8 overall in \u201921) begin sharpening their skills at two team camps this summer, long before practices officially began on Monday, Pontine indicated she\u2019d already seen much of the potential last season\u2019s squad presented \u2013 and will again rely upon this season \u2013 to succeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdams State (University\u2019s camp) was \u2026 just about kind of getting back into it, remembering that \u2018Oh yeah, we know how to play volleyball,\u2019\u201d she recalled. \u201cThe first couple days were rough, but the third day we came together and played well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Now
Now a senior, high-rising Ignacio Volleycat Grace Gonzales, right, will be an integral part of IHS' volleyball success in 2022. She was a first team all-San Juan Basin League selection last fall. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cThen Fort Lewis College\u2019s was good. We lost only to Portales (17-9, NMAA Class 4A State qualifier in \u201921) and Farmington (12-11, fourth place in NMAA District 2-5A), and I didn\u2019t even have a full \u2018varsity\u2019 team \u2013 we filled it in with players who played JV last year \u2013 but it was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then we had the Fort Lewis coaches come to Ignacio and do a one-day camp with some of the players,\u201d Pontine noted. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t very many \u2013 it was, like, six players \u2013 so it was very one-on-one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Definitely a plus, considering vacancies left by graduated standouts Alexis Pontine and Lexy Young need filling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to replace a big outside and a big right-side \u2026 and we\u2019ll probably have to find a new libero,\u201d Pontine said.<\/p>\n

Pontine will be assisted this fall by returning junior-varsity coach Cindy Valdez plus new C-team coach Breana Talamante-Benavidez.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything changes, and we\u2019ll see what personnel we have \u2026 to go forward. See who we have, teach them what we can teach them, and do the best we can!\u201d<\/p>\n

After a tuneup at 3A Pagosa Springs\u2019 annual Pirate 4 Corners Scrimmages on Saturday, IHS will begin competition Aug. 23 at 3A Montezuma-Cortez. Ignacio will then head east to nonleague 2A Del Norte on the 25th. 2A\/1A San Juan Basin League work \u2013 in which the \u2019Cats went 8-0 against their 2A-level rivals last season \u2013 is scheduled to get underway Aug. 30 with a trip to Mancos.<\/p>\n

Ignacio\u2019s schedule currently shows the \u2019Cats not having a home match until Sept. 16 for SJBL play against Ridgway. By then, the crew will likely have already gotten a great glimpse of the postseason they\u2019ll hope to again reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got invited to the West Grand tournament (in Kremmling) over Labor Day weekend,\u201d Pontine said, \u201cand we also got invited to the Denver Christian tournament. What I heard was that it\u2019s just teams that made state last year who got invited! So we\u2019re going to that one on the 10th of September.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Back
Back for her second season as Ignacio High's varsity volleyball coach in 2022, Shasta Pontine directs warmups before nonleague road action at Sargent last fall. IHS went 19-8 overall last season, reaching the CHSAA Class 2A state championship tournament in Colorado Springs. Practices officially began Monday. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI haven\u2019t seen the schedule; I just got kind of a list (of teams) when we said we\u2019d go,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd there was Holyoke and Meeker, Denver Christian, Sedgwick County. \u2026 I heard Hoehne also got invited, but I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going because their schedule was full by the time they got invited. So it\u2019ll be a good tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Champion of a 3A\/2A\/1A Mile High League last fall, Denver Christian finished 20-8 overall after going 1-2 at state. Ruler of the 2A\/1A Lower Platte, Sedgwick County ended up 25-3 after a four-game win over fellow northeasterners Holyoke (23-8) in the state championship game. Western Slope champ Meeker, a Final Four participant inside The Broadmoor World Arena, went 26-3.<\/p>\n

At present, the updated field also includes 2A MHLers Littleton Front Range Christian (11-11 in 2021), 2A Southern Peaks member Sanford (14-10), and now-2A\/1A Union Pacific inclusion Strasburg (14-10, 3-7 3A Patriot last season).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rest is just kind of \u2018our\u2019 schedule,\u201d said Pontine. \u201cI mean, we\u2019ll play Cortez, Pagosa, we added Sargent again \u2026. But then the rest (of our matches) are just league. And I\u2019m excited; it\u2019ll be awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Final fall 2021 2A\/1A SJBL standings: 1. Dove Creek, 2. Ignacio, 3. Dolores, 4. Telluride, 5. Nucla, 6. Mancos, 7. Ridgway, 8. Norwood.<\/p>\n

First team all-SJBL (*can return in 2022): Kalie Gatlin,* Lexi Gray* and Kylie Gatlin* of Dove Creek; Alexis Pontine, Grace Gonzales* and Laci Brunson* of Ignacio; Erin Brown (POY) and Kamri Willbanks of Dolores; Emma Righetti* of Telluride; Shailah Franklin and Lisa Sutherland of Nucla; and Jaidyn Platt of Norwood.<\/p>\n

Second team: Shania Kibel and Trista Barnett* of Dove Creek; Lexy Young and Solymar Cosio* of Ignacio; Chandler Smith* of Dolors; Zoe Rommel of Telluride; Keelee Redd and Morgan Weimer* of Nucla; Teya Yeomans* of Mancos; Isabella Janda of Ridgway; and Gabby Flores of Norwood.<\/p>\n

Honorable mention: Valentina Tarini of Dolores; Thea Rommel* of Telluride; Shelby Jabour* of Mancos; and Aynsleigh Wood of Ridgway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

prepping for road-heavy slate early<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[846,345],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-39010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ignacio-high-school","tag-volleyball"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39010","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=39010"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84196,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39010\/revisions\/84196"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39010"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=39010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}