Dolores drops a five-setter to Merino and must win to stay alive
The Bears led the No. 2 seed two sets to none on Thursday night before losing 3-2. They meet Akron at 11 a.m. Friday on the elimination side of the Class 2A state bracket.
Dolores had the No. 2 seed down two sets to none on Thursday night and could not finish it.
The seventh-seeded Bears lost 25-19, 25-23, 20-25, 23-25, 12-15 to Merino in the second round of the Class 2A state tournament at the Denver Coliseum, giving up a two-set lead, according to the Colorado High School Activities Association’s bracket.
That drops Dolores out of the winners’ side of the double-elimination draw. The Bears now play No. 8 Akron at 11 a.m. Friday, November 13, in the first round of the elimination bracket. The loser’s season ends there.
The defeat is the Bears’ third of the season against 24 wins and ends an 18-match winning streak that had run since September. Their morning win over Ignacio is reported here.
Akron is there for the same reason. The Wildcats lost their opening match to Yuma in three, 24-26, 19-25, 18-25, and have not won at the tournament either.
Friday’s survivors meet again in the afternoon; the elimination bracket runs into Saturday, when the championship is decided. Nothing at the tournament is played in Montezuma County.
Set scores above are CHSAA’s, from its 2A state bracket; the MaxPreps box score carries the match record. The Akron result will follow once it is posted.
Sources: CHSAA 2026 Class 2A girls volleyball state bracket, read November 13, 2026; the Current’s scoreboards feed, which carries MaxPreps results
Update, November 14, 2026: Dolores beat Akron 3-1 on Friday morning and lost to Vail Christian 3-0 that evening, ending its season at 25-4. Read the follow-up: Dolores outlasts Akron, then falls to Vail Christian as its state run ends.