Española Valley High School head coach Damon Salazar said it took a “complete game” to take down one of Class 4A’s top contenders who were riding a 14-game winning streak.
Española was able to do just that Oct. 18 in their 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 25-23) sweep of District 2-4A rival Pojoaque Valley High School.
The Lady Sundevils served their way to victory and let the District know they’re still a threat. With the win, they revenged their Oct. 2 loss at Pojoaque.
The Elkettes were forced into 12 service reception errors that left them shook and out of system for a majority of the night. Often times, serves landed between two or more confused, stagnant Elkettes.
“We were out of communication and they played really well,” Pojoaque head coach Joe Rodriguez said. “They made us make errors this time and we couldn’t capitalize on the good passes that we were making. We were dinking, we had bad sets and it was a cumulative effect. Get a bad pass, then bad set, it was just one of those nights.”
Salazar credited his girls’ dedication to preparation, saying studying film of the teams’ previous meeting helped them succeed and build a plan revolving around serving.
Española served up 12 aces and Meranda Romero and Chloe Fell carried the weight and finished with four apiece.
“If those two girls don’t get going, then we are not going to be any good,” Salazar said. “They’re really good servers and you saw how many times they each served. They can hit different spots and so we need them to be good. If they miss a serve it feels like four or five points (lost) for us, it’s that important.”
Pojoaque looked sharp early as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead off the bat in the first set, but then the reception errors came in bunches, which also forced their attackers into errors of their own. The normally sure-handed Espy Torres committed two attacking errors during a run where Española increased their lead to 22-15 before finishing things off and grabbing the momentum that carried over to sets two and three.
“Our serves are really hard (to defend),” Romero said. “Chloe and Dulce’s serves float a lot and they’re super fast. Then Anita
(DeAguero) and the rest of us, ours drop super fast and are really hard to get to.”
While the Elkettes struggled to establish any rhythm, DeAguero’s team-leading 22 assists — along with the improved play of setter Izabel Sena — helped Española hitter Dulce Maldonado rack up 22 kills. Chloe Fell also recorded 10 and Kianna Duran followed with six.
Maldonado and Fell continued to rise to the occasion when the Lady Sundevils needed momentum to outlast the Elkettes in the third set, which was more tightly-contested than the first two.
The teams found themselves deadlocked at 22 before Roxane Deleon recorded a block, which was followed by a Makenzie Quintana hitting error to put Española up 24-22. Pojoaque would inch closet to get within one, but Fell finished things off with a kill from the strong side.
“I got on Dulce and challenged her on the bench (in the third set) and she came and stepped up and Chloe Fell is finally back and that’s what we had all summer,” Salazar said. “When she hurt her back (late summer) it was a long road back for her, but no one has two arms like we do on the outside, nobody. Our setting has improved so much and our hitters really know where to go now and the tempo of the ball (is better). Before, the hitters were stopping and going and so, just a tribute to the kids who have worked hard.”
Salazar said he’s upped the ante in practice in the last week and really increased tempo. He’s added a drill called “serve six,” which doesn’t allow a player to leave the court before landing six straight successful serves.
“It helped us serve well tonight and they give a lot of room out there,” he said. “Tonight we forced them to make the errors we made the last time we played them. Volleyball is a game of mistakes and mistake containment.”
Rodriguez said he expected his team to lose both of their matches in Homecoming week as distractions loomed, so he was satisfied with a 1-1 split as Pojoaque swept Los Alamos High School on the road Oct. 16.
“We’re protecting our home court so far, which I expected.” Rodriguez said. “Our District is just tough and there’s no nights off, there really isn’t. The good thing is, the girls are pissed at themselves collectively and that’s a good thing that they hate losing.”
Pojoaque hosted Taos Tuesday, but those results were not available by press time. They will take the court next when they travel to Moriarty High School Oct. 30.
The Lady Sundevils won their fourth consecutive match after a 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-3, 25-21) Oct. 20 road win at Clovis High School.
They traveled to Moriarty Tuesday, but those results were also not available by press time. They will be back in action Oct. 26 to host Los Alamos.
Their win against the Elkettes proved that the District tournament could go anyone’s way. Pojoaque will most likely hold on to win the regular season, but Española showed they’re more than capable of stealing the other automatic bid to the state tournament.
“We just wanted to win so bad and show who we really are,” Romero said. “It picks up our confidence so much. We’re just gonna keep pushing higher and higher to get the best seed we can for state.”