The Pojoaque Elkettes overcame pain, injury and a lopsided loss in the second game Nov. 14 to defeat the Portales Rams and win the Class AAA state volleyball championship at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho.
“What heart, what heart,” Pojoaque coach Brian Ainsworth said after the match. “This team is the best team I’ve ever coached.”
Ainsworth added his second state title as the Elks’ coach with the 25-23, 14-25, 25-8, 25-20 victory.
It may have been destined to be. After Pojoaque put away District 2AAA rival Robertson Lady Cardinals 25-16, 25-17, 26-24 Nov. 13 in the semifinals, the Elkettes went to a Chinese restaurant, Pei Wei, to eat. The victory over the Cardinals avenged last year’s loss in the state semifinals to Robertson.
“I was thinking everybody’s happy,” Ainsworth said. “The only thing that can top this off is if something positive happens that can make a statement and I can utilize.”
After eating, the players opened their fortune cookies.
“It turned out that in all their fortune cookies there was something positive,” Ainsworth said. “The girls came up to me and they were all saying, ‘Coach, it’s going to happen.’”
It was the Elkettes who made it happen.
Pojoaque started strong in the first game against the Rams, jumping out to a 12-5 lead. Pojoaque led 22-16 when the Elkettes made a flurry of hitting errors and the Rams closed to within 22-21 before a kill by Kira Trujillo stopped the Portales surge. The Rams fought off two game points before a Dionna Montoya kill gave Pojoaque a 25-23 victory.
“At the end of game one Portales got some momentum, and I didn’t feel comfortable going into game two,” Ainsworth said. “We started out-thinking ourselves, tipping and roll hitting rather than just swinging.”
The Rams rolled to an 11-1 lead as Pojoaque hit the ball into the net and out of bounds. With the score at 20-8, Ainsworth called time out and talked to his team.
“I told them ‘You’re going to lose this game,’” Ainsworth said. “What I want you to do is start fighting for every point.”
Pojoaque lost more than the second game. Defensive specialist Cara Salazar injured her left arm and had to leave the game. Outside hitter Dionna Montoya rolled an ankle trying to hit at the net, but she waved off any attempt to take her out.
“This was my last game,” Montoya said. “There was nothing that was going to stop me.”
Junior defensive specialist Kiana Vigil moved from covering tips to receive serve on defense and sophomore Amber Lovato stepped in to serve as Salazar sat on the bench with ice on her arm.
“Everybody supported me because that’s what teams do,” Lovato said.
The score was tied at 6-6 in the third game when Pojoaque made its move. Junior middle Liz Gomez stuffed a pair of kills by Portales at the net and then hammered down a kill of her own to start the Elkettes on an eight-point run. With the Rams biggest hitter Jenna Wagner stuck in the back row, Pojoaque pounded the Rams 25-8 in the third game to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
“We wanted it so bad and had worked so hard,” senior setter Marissa Romero said. “We weren’t going to let one game stop us.”
Portales did not roll over for Pojoaque in the fourth game. The Rams led 7-6, but a three-point spurt by the Elkettes gave Pojoaque a 9-7 lead. Pojoaque stayed in front of the Rams by three points at 19-16, but three kills by Wagner brought Portales back to 21-20 and within a point of the Elkettes.
“We need some help.” Ainsworth shouted to the Pojoaque fans, who outnumbered the Portales fans in the stands.
A tip by Romero and a block at the net helped Pojoaque take a 24-19 lead. Portales fought off one match point, but a hit out-of-bounds sealed the Elkettes victory.
It was a team effort, as all 12 Elkettes saw time of the floor and contributed to the effort. Trujillo finished with 16 kills, Montoya 12 and Gomez had 10 for the Elkettes.
“This team were all the best of friends,” Ainsworth said. “They were a family and would always be there for one another.”
Great Athletes
Ainsworth had taken Pojoaque to the 2006 Class AAA state championship, but didn’t hesitate to call the four seniors of this year’s team the best he had ever coached at their positions. He started with senior libero Miquela Lovato, who was playing in her third championship game and had been with the varsity since she was an eighth-grader.
“She’s amazing at what she does,” Ainsworth said. “Look at how many balls she touches.”
Lovato is headed to the University of New Mexico to play for the Lady Lobos.
Middle hitter Trujillo, who was a substitute on the 2006 team, was the next to draw praise.
“She’s such an athletic middle,” Ainsworth said. “She’s always been a good blocker but this year stepped up and learned how to hit.”
Montoya, who earned her fourth state championship medal (two in basketball, the other in track), is just 5 feet, six inches, but her leaping ability makes her an outstanding hitter.
“She has so much heart and is such a competitor,” Ainsworth said. “What athleticism.”
Finally, there was Romero, who served the ball for Pojoaque’s hitters to put away.
“She created so many opportunities for our hitters,” Ainsworth said. “She had the ability to block and did an excellent job.”
Pojoaque finished the season 23-1, its only loss coming to Monument Valley of Arizona, which won the Arizona Class AAA state championship. Portales finished 16-7, but the championship loss to Pojoaque was its only defeat by a New Mexico Class AAA team.
“In that third game, it was 0-0 and we were going to do what we do,’ Montoya said. “Everybody stepped up and we just had that heart.”