DOLORES-One could think of Tuesday night's 2A/1A San Juan Basin League clash as such:

Engine #1 was pulling eight fully-loaded cars.

Approaching on the same track from another direction, Engine #2 had three attached.

Destined to collide, which was likely to derail the other?

In the case of Dolores and Ignacio - Nos. 1, and 2 respectively - the answer was the former.

The latter, however, wasn't exactly left as a mangled "train wreck" in a competitive 17-25, 19-25, 20-25 defeat. Earning a ninth consecutive victory, the hosting Bears rolled to 11-3 overall and 9-1 in the SJBL while the accelerating Volleycats (5-12, 4-6) had the brakes applied to their three-match win streak.

As the scores would indicate, IHS performed most up to speed in Game 3, and after being its initial aggressors, rallied to re-tie the score at 9-9 after junior Makayla Howell split a double block for a kill and then landed an ace off DHS senior Kortni Spurlock's extended foot.

Senior Amethyst Egger-Morris got back to a re-tie at 11-all with a kill, but Dolores strung together eight of the next nine points to build a 19-12 advantage, which would held until Ignacio senior Heather Kerrigan served long on match point.

Egger-Morris, however, kept the Bears on the tips of their collective claws until that moment, having drilled a kill through two blockers and then crashing another off the side of a single block.

Immediately following a Kerrigan ace late in Game 2, Egger-Morris pulled Ignacio back to 19-17 with a strong solo block of DHS junior Madison Rodriguez, then destroyed a DHS over-pass for a kill. That forced Dolores head coach Gina Hollen to take a momentum-interrupting timeout and design a play for 6'2" go-to junior Jordan Elder, who responded with one of the night's smoothest, most severe kill shots.

A scoreboard error actually made earlier in the game, likely not noticed by IHS personnel after Volleycat senior Reyna Cruz tied the count at 9-9 with a cross-court kill, mistakenly awarded the Bears the game one point too soon (both covering media outlets' scoresheets showed a count of 24-19).

As expected, DHS more or less controlled Game 1 of their Senior Night match, taking the lead at 5-4 and not looking back with consecutive kills by sophomore Sydney Smith increasing the advantage to 11-5.

IHS freshman Alexis Pontine pulled the guests back to 16-11 with a kill and a hard, unreturnable serve, but Elder and senior Tatum Majors struck back with kills through the middle. Egger-Morris then rejected Majors with an authoritative stuff, but the 'Cats would approach no closer than 19-17 via an ace by senior Kiana Valdez.

Back-to-back Cruz attacks sent long brought up game point, and after Spurlock sent the serve over, Majors mashed a kill that caromed off three October-pink jerseys and out of play near the Volleycats' bench.

Up next, Ignacio will host Dove Creek - standing 16-1 overall, 9-0 in league, and ranked #10 in the 10/15 CHSAANow.com Class 1A poll to boot - on Friday, Oct. 19. Homecoming varsity play is set to begin at 4 p.m. The 'Cats will then welcome Norwood on the Saturday with undercard action starting at 11 a.m.