For the last four years, Pojoaque Valley volleyball had failed to beat Los Alamos. The current seniors were in middle school the last time the Elkettes had beat their nearby rival; they themselves had never won.
In their last nine matches, the Elkettes had lost nine times — and six of those came in five sets.
But they finally got over the hump on Tuesday. Pojoaque (14-2, 4-0 in district) took down Los Alamos (12-6, 3-1) on the road to gain sole possession of first place halfway through their district schedule, winning 25-16, 25-16, 12-25, 25-22.
“It feels amazing,” said Pojoaque senior Anica Urioste. “That was a well-overdue win. It felt so good. We worked hard for it.”
Urioste said their positive energy and cheers made the difference in getting the win.
But despite breaking the losing streak against their foe, Pojoaque coach Joe Rodriguez was not stopping to celebrate.
“It ain’t over yet,” he said. “It’s good, but we have to focus on Taos now.”
When, after winning the first two sets, Pojoaque lost big in the third set, players had flashbacks to their most recent meeting when the Elkettes lost after going up 2-0.
“It was a little nerve-wracking,” Urioste said. “It was almost a repeat, but it was pretty good redemption.”
Pojoaque started strong, winning four straight points early in the first set to force a timeout up 6-2. Los Alamos came back, but another Pojoaque run forced another timeout later in the set, and they ultimately finished the first set on an 11-3 run to win 25-16.
They continued that run into the second set, starting with an 8-1 lead, and just when Los Alamos came within a point Pojoaque rattled off another six straight points, and ultimately won the set 25-16.
But the Hilltoppers were the hot team in the third set, starting up 7-2 and building a lead from there. Pojoaque had no answers as Los Alamos won six straight points to cap a 25-12 win for the set.
Rodriguez said errors, including four missed serves, were costly in that set, and they fell off their energy as a team.
But Pojoaque fought through the “mind game” and re-found the momentum in the next set. They started up 6-2, but it stayed tied at 11-11 and 17-17, and Los Alamos then led 19-17. Then, the Elkettes rattled off five straight points to retake the lead, and ultimately finished victorious.
Joslyn Nunez registered an impressive 37 assists in the four sets. Urioste led the team with 18 kills, while Sonya Quintana had 11. The Elkettes had 12 aces, with four from Quintana.
Pojoaque starts the second half of its district schedule on Thursday at Taos (7-11, 2-2).
“In order to win this district,” Rodriguez said, “we’re probably going to have to win every night.”