The Escalante bus departed at 6 a.m.
The early start to the day, and long bus ride before a noon match in Rio Rancho, was likely a part of their first-round upset.
“I think that had a lot to do with it,” Escalante Coach Mikaela Martinez said. “Being on the bus for three hours, and being up early.”
Perhaps because of sluggishness or state tournament nerves, Escalante (16-8) fell as the No. 6 seed in an upset by No. 11 Tatum (11-12) in straight sets in the first round of the state tournament on Thursday. They will return on Friday from the bottom of the double-elimination bracket.
“We’re feeling motivated to win the next game,” junior Ashley Gilmore said. “It’s tough that we lost to a lower seed. But I think it’s going to motivate us to come closer and win the next one.”
Alani Yeahquo played strong later in the match, with 10 total kills, including six in the second set, plus three blocks.
“I saw her really step up as a leader,” Martinez said of Yeahquo. “She played the net extremely well today. She was very smart and had great court awareness.”
Felice Baca had 11 assists for the Lady Lobos. Hannah Lopez had four aces in the match.
Escalante quickly fell behind 3-1, then they scored five straight points to lead in the first set. After which Tatum scored seven straight to take a lead they would never relinquish. The Coyotes scored five more in a row to go up 18-9. Escalante made a rally to come back within two points, and later to down 20-19, but Tatum finished off the set at 25-21.
Gilmore said they were nervous and “working out some kinks” early in the match, and their play started to pick up later.
“They kind of physically woke up a little bit,” Martinez said. “They also were kind of driven like — we’re here, we can do this. It’s a possibility, we just need to work hard for it.”
For the second set, Tatum started with the first four points to force a timeout. Escalante rallied back to tie the set, and it stayed close most of the way. The Lobos had chances to win at 24-23, 25-24 and 26-25, but lost all three set points, and ultimately dropped the set 29-27.
The third set was close early, with Escalante taking a lead at 15-12, and holding it most of the way. But from 19-17, Tatum scored three straight points, then won after just one from Escalante. They finished with the final five points to finish with a sweep.
“We played separately, like individually,” Gilmore said. “We needed to come together as a team. And we just didn’t.”
The Lady Lobos will face No. 5 seed Hagerman (16-8) on Friday morning. The Bobcats defeated No. 12 Rehoboth Christian in straight sets on Thursday, then lost to No. 4 Laguna-Acoma in four. The teams in the elimination brackets will have to win three matches in a row on Friday to reach Saturday’s semifinals.
Martinez told the team after the match, “Keep your heads up, and we can keep moving forward.”