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Dysart spikers lack emotion in Cortez loss
Dysart High School volleyball coach Celeste Taylor has organized a search party to find her team’s emotion.
The search party began its work immediately following the Demons’ 21-25, 16-25, 25-20, 18-25 home loss to Cortez Thursday night.
"The team just looked emotionless out there," said Dysart coach Celeste Taylor, whose squad lost a road match to Lake Havasu on Wednesday. "Volleyball is a physical sport, but you need emotion as well and we didn't have any out there."
Dysart entered the season with high expectations after last year's 18-10 campaign which featured a second consecutive appearance in the Class 4A Division 2 state tournament.
However, the Cortez loss dropped Dysart to 1-3 with another trip slated for Lake Havasu this weekend to participate in a multiple-team tournament.
"I think one of the problems is we have a lot of new faces out there," said Taylor, who spent 20 minutes talking to her squad following the loss. "Physically, I can't fault them because they are giving the effort.
"But they lack emotion and I attribute that to a lack of confidence at this point."
Dysart led 7-6 in the first game before Cortez took control with a nine-point run to take a 15-7 lead. The Colts won all nine points on the serve of senior Jennifer Tennant, who had four aces in the nine-point stretch. Dysart rallied to within 24-20 before Cortez closed out the first game.
Dysart rarely threatened in the second game and trailed 23-9 before mounting a short-lived comeback effort.
The Demons rallied in the third game behind the net play and serves of Willow Canyon transfer Daria Gall, who helped the Demons turn a 5-4 deficit into a 10-5 lead. Dysart's Brianna Marshall provided a block for another point and Breanna Rodriguez delivered a kill to build the lead to 20-12.
Cortez closed to 22-20 before Dysart pulled out the win and forced a fourth game.
Unfortunately, any emotional lift from the third-game win dissipated quickly after the Demons built an early 3-1 lead.
Christina Dougherty and Kayla Robinson dominated the net for the Colts, who built leads of 13-8 and 21-12 before closing out the victory.
"All of our players did good things at times, but not consistently enough in the match," Taylor said. "I think some of the lack of emotion may be because of the long bus ride home from Lake Havasu on Wednesday.
"But that's when you have to dig deep mentally and emotionally and we didn't do that tonight."
