Sometimes stressing simplicity and the fundamental principals can go a long way.
That has certainly been the case with the Dulce High School volleyball team throughout their last 12 contests — all resulting in victories and an unblemished 12-0 mark to finish off District 1-2A play.
Their final match of the season ended in a 3-0 sweep of Northwest Nov. 1 in what was Dulce’s defacto Homecoming game with the cancellation of the football season this fall.
The Lady Hawks sit at 17-3 overall as they head into the District tournament Thursday (11/8)-Saturday to be held at Dulce.
It took a little digging, passing, setting and attacking in a controlled manner to get back on track after two consecutive September losses to Santa Fe Indian School and Navajo Prep.
“We started doing a lot of control ball handling drills,” Dulce head coach Kathy Salazar-Valdez said. “Literally, them off by themselves where they are bumping, setting to each other and spiking to a certain number and the servers are serving to a certain location.”
Service errors cost the Lady Hawks in the Sept. 25 loss to Navajo Prep, who also handed Dulce another loss in the Piedra Vista Panther Classic.
“We actually should have won that game,” Salazar-Valdez said about the Sept. 25 matchup. “We, of course, made the service errors and they were nonstop I remember in that game. What did it send to us? How important service errors are and making the opposing team earn the points instead of just being given the points.”
Since their tear through the District, Salazar-Valdez said coaches have continued to compliment on her players’ ability to “handle the ball appropriately.”
It’s hard not to dish out the compliments, as Dulce has gone 36-1 in sets, with Rehoboth Christian being the only team to push a match to four sets during District play.
The big three trio of setter Jasmine Salazar, outside hitter Jaelyn Reval and middle Caitlin Duncan have showed up big night-in and night-out, but libero Alancia Herrera has also made her mark.
“Sometimes she falls (off),” Salazar-Valdez said about the sophomore Herrera. “She’s so young, but a quick timeout, a quick pat on the back and word of encouragement and Alancia gets right back in there and starts working again. Those other three, they have definitely been the key.”
While it doesn’t show in the record, the biggest challenge for Dulce has been the adjustment to their new District, in what Salazar-Valdez called a case of being the “new team on the block.”
Many of the other schools have played with each other before in previous districts, so Dulce was treated a little differently in Salazar-Valdez’s eyes.
“We faced some sarcasm and taunting on the other side of the net and that has taught us to be humble players,” she said.
Salazar-Valdez has always run a tight-knit team in her time as the head in Dulce — she holds conversations with her players daily off the court to keep them in check and keep their minds going in the right direction.
She said overcoming some of the off-the-court distractions in the District has not only made her players grow as young women, but the always-supportive parents of the Dulce team have noticed the respect and class the girls have gained.
“They compete like the NMAA (wants) with class and that’s something big that I’m proud of,” Salazar-Valdez said. “Other people and parents see it and they tell me that — and it makes me proud. It’s awesome.”
With the regular season District title, Dulce has already claimed one of the automatic bids from the District for the state tournament. Rehoboth (16-4 ) will be the likeliest contender to challenge the Lady Hawks in this week’s District tournament.
The state tournament brackets will be released by the New Mexico Activities Association on Sunday after 5 p.m. Dulce is currently ranked No. 5 in the MaxPreps state rankings for Class 2A.
“State’s gonna be competitive,” Salazar-Valdez said. “We will have them cheering on the other side and hands up and you’ve seen my team — they’re pretty quiet. Sometimes it’s hard to get them rolling, but with what they’ve learned, they perform and handle the ball better to get the points and they feel better when they do it with class.”