Trailing two sets in their Class 2A/1A San Juan Basin League opener on Sept. 2, Dove Creek closed to 14-12 in Set 3 before a lift violation gave Telluride a point and put senior Lori Gleria on serve.
Gleria held serve for seven straight points, with aces against Dove Creek junior Mykaela Fury and senior libero Kaylen Trejo, plus two disruptive serves.
After netting her eighth serve, Dove Creek regained possession down trailing 22-13, but senior Allex Williams also netted her serve. Telluride junior Ellarose Aplin then blocked senior Audrey Jennings and stuffed a Dover Dove Creek overpass to seal Telluride’s 25-20, 25-14, 25-13 sweep inside the DawgHouse gymnasium.
“Lori had an awesome (service) run that … really tied us (together) in the clutch,” said Aplin, who’d secured Set 2 with a 1-v-1 block of Fury. “And I thought that was really good.”
“We’ve got to be a better defensive team,” Williams said. “It’s been slow progress. … But I feel like we all have a good relationship and we’re all working pretty hard to get there.”
“We’re rebuilding,” said Fury. “We’re trying to work on our mental state…as a team, and the chemistry’s just building.”
Dove Creek (1-6, 0-1 SJBL) led only three times, totaling scoring just seven points. In Set 1, Dove Creek stayed within four of Telluride (3-1, 1-0 SJBL) before Telluride reached set point at 24-19. Williams, playing with a thumb injury, landed a kill to keep the Bulldogs alive.
Unfortunately, she missed her next swing after Telluride senior Tori Sanders’ push disrupted the setup. DCHS struck first in Set 2 with senior Hadley Hatfield serving, but kills by Gleria and senior Delia Noel put THS ahead. The Bulldogs got no closer than 8-7 before two aces by junior libero Ford Fenton prompted a timeout.
Trailing 12-7, Dove Creek closed to 13-10 before errors and a roll shot by senior Sonja Rikkers doubled the deficit. An ace by THS sophomore Hazel Noel extended the lead to 21-13, and head coach Barry used her second timeout.
Telluride kept control. The younger Noel set her sister for a kill, and Dove Creek junior Ariana Rockwell was called for a net violation – also injuring her ankle and exiting the match. With Williams and Hatfield already limited by knee injuries, Dove Creek couldn’t afford another setback.
The Bulldogs have time to recover before visiting Nucla on Tuesday, Sept. 9. As of press time, the Lady Mustangs were 3-3 ahead of their Sept. 4 match at Dolores (4-0).
