The Nucla Mustangs were 4-6 on the volleyball court as of press time, and the Forum asked head coach for the girls Debbie Wytulka how things were shaping up.
“We have 23 girls out and have a lot of talent on this team,” she said. “We are excited to see how the season goes.”
Wytulka is in her 28th year coaching for Nucla. Previously, Wytulka coached the “C” team at Fruita High School for one year, before moving back to Nucla. Once again, she’s assisted by Berrie Reams, who is in her sixth year of helping coach the girls.
This year’s seniors on the roster include Maggie Andrews, Lantry Galley, Kaydance Larsen, Maddie Larsen, Shay Snyder and Sydney Tomlinson.
“This is a strong group of girls with a lot of experience,” coach said. “They are working on their leadership skills, as well as fine tuning their volleyball abilities. I expect great things out of each of them.”
The girls have had some memorable moments on the court so far. At the Center Tournament, Wytulka said the girls’ first match was against Salida, and the second match was versus Center, both of which were “rocky.”
“We made quite a few mistakes and didn’t play up to our potential,” she told the Forum.
But, things did get exciting.
“In our final match of the day, we cut down those errors and played much better,” Wytulka said. “Maggie Andrews is our libero and is usually the one passing the ball that gets delivered to the front row hitters. She gets a few opportunities to hit from the back row, and she was able to get the kill that gave us the win over Creede to end the day.”
Wytulka added that Nucla hosted Dolores for the girls’ first league game and played very well, even though they lost.
“We put up some big blocks against their hitters, and our offense was able to find holes in their defense to keep the game close,” she said.
Looking back on the D’Evelyn Tournament, coach said the Mustangs started the day losing to Bennett in what she described as “a close match.”
“Then we faced Battle Mountain, which was a tough team, and lost to them,” she said. “We finished the day with wins against Lake County and STEM Highlands Ranch. It was good to play teams that we don’t normally play.”
Other memories are being made off the court too. This year, Nucla’s volleyball program has started something new, a “Big Sister-Little Sister” program, relationship building between the high school girls and the middle school players.
Wytulka explained that through it, the girls send notes and gifts to each other.
“And we will take some time out of our practices to watch each others’ games,” she said. “The goal is to provide mentorship to the younger players and build relationships.”
This week, the Mustangs were to face the Miners in Telluride, on Sept. 22, and then they have another away-game at Ouray on Sept. 24.
The season is far from over with games scheduled throughout October, culminating in a league tournament Halloween weekend. Regionals are on the calendar for Nov. 8.
All are invited to view the girls’ schedule online at https://docs.google.com/document/d/15z32i6nFZiG-xBvm5ndSrwZDRx76WtYlFfVI1qVCFHc/edit?tab=t.0.
