With their season on the line, down 24-17 and two sets to none, Escalante kept fighting. They forced two timeouts while fighting off six match points to stay alive.
But it was not quite enough, and one point away from forcing extra points, Hagerman’s shot hit the ground, and that was the end.
“They just knew that it was possible, that it could be done,” said Escalante coach Mikaela Martinez. “They had that heart to push.”
The Lady Lobos (16-9) saw their season end early as the No. 6 seed in the state tournament with a three-set loss to No. 5 seed Hagerman (18-9) in the elimination bracket on Friday at Rio Rancho High School.
“We gave our all onto the court,” said junior Denajah Romero. “This game we played as a family. And we did the best that we could.”
For the second straight year, Escalante entered the tournament as a high seed, but lost in their first two matches. A year ago, as the No. 5 seed, they lost in five sets to No. 12 Mora, then in four sets to Tularosa.
Ashley Gilmore led the Lady Lobos with 10 kills and three blocks. Aubrey Valdez had 15 assists. Hannah Lopez had three aces.
Throughout the weekend, Escalante was close in every set, scoring at least 20 in all six, but failing to ever secure a win, often after falling behind early.
“We started late,” Martinez said. “We started playing a little later in the game, instead of starting right in the beginning.”
Romero said she thought the team played better than the day before.
“Today, it was a different type of communication and family work than any other game we had played,” she said.
In the first set, Hagerman jumped out to a 7-3 lead,but Escalante came back, and were tied at 15-15, and again at 20-20 and 22-22. But the Bobcats took the last three points to take the win.
Then, Esclante started well in the second set, and forced a timeout up 8-2. But Hagerman quickly stormed back; a 6-point rally put them behind 10-9, and they soon took back the lead. The two teams stayed close most of the rest of the way. But after Escalante led 20-19, Hagerman scored six of the last seven points to win the set and go up 2-0.
And in the third set, Hagerman quickly took a big lead, and led 16-11. But Escalante started to fight abc, though they fell behind by seven points. But they won six straight, and looked like they might come all the way back to extend the match. The Bobcats had to use both of their timeouts at 24-20 and 24-23, and Martinez told the team to keep pushing and take one point at a time.
But Hagerman finally finished them off in three sets.
Escalante finishes a strong season where they won 16 matches and won their district for the third year in a row. Five seniors will depart from this team, including both of their setters, while most of the hitters will return.
“I feel like we came closer as a family, and so from here on we’re just going to work harder and go on from there,” Romero said.