Curious eyes around the Valley probably couldn’t help but notice the potential semifinal matchup brewing in the lower part of the Class 4A state volleyball tournament bracket after the conclusion of pool play.
Both Pojoaque and Española Valley were on a potential crash-course for a third meeting of the season after both squads won their respective pools on the opening day of the tournament.
The only problem was, neither the Elkettes or Lady Sundevils made it past the quarterfinals, as Pojoaque fell to Los Lunas and Española was sunk by Santa Teresa.
When asked about the potential of a rematch, this time in state tournament play, Pojoaque head coach Joe Rodriguez shook his head and laughed at the prospect, as he had called Española his teams “Achilles heel” before the start of the District 2-4A tournament.
However, the Los Lunas Lady Tigers played that role Nov. 16 at the Santa Ana Star Center as they pushed Pojoaque out of the bracket with a 3-2 (18-25, 25-14, 25-18, 14-25, 15-8) win in a match that went the distance and had its fair share of ups and downs for both teams.
After taking it to the Lady Tigers in the fourth set, Pojoaque was looking to ride the momentum into the equalizer, but a quick seven-point deficit was too much to overcome. The Elkettes let two serves drop right in front of them as Los Lunas went up 8-1 and continued to pick on the back row of Pojoaque.
The Lady Tigers were on their heels following Pojoaque’s fourth set win and the Elkettes could sense it, but the inconsistent back row play proved deadly in the final stanza.
“We all had a lot of energy and were excited, so we wanted to bring that into the fifth game,” Pojoaque senior Camille Cordova said. “(In the fifth) We had a tough time communicating in the back row and our block was running out, so that’s how they just kept killing it on us.”
“We had some young kids playing back row and they were kind of like a deer in the headlights,” Rodriguez added.
Pojoaque finished the year 18-5 overall and made it a round further then district champion Los Alamos, who was ousted in the first round by Hope Christian. The Lady Huskies then took out No. 1 seed St. Pius before falling themselves to Los Lunas in the semifinals.
Rodriguez said the season was all “highs” as Pojoaque returned to the state tournament after being absent in 2017 and improving their win total by eight games.
Adrianna Quintana, Alyssa Rodriguez and Ashten Martinez were named to the First-Team All-District 2-4A team.
Just feet away, playing at the same 1:15 p.m. scheduled time-slot, Española had its hands full with the Lady Desert Warriors, who swept the Lady Sundevils 25-14, 25-20, 25-17.
Española, at first, looked like they had come ready to play, just like they did the day prior when they were hitting on all cylinders to win their pool over No. 2 Hope and No. 7 Kirtland Central as an 11-seed.
Big 5 foot 11 middle Alex Cerecerez and strong serving carried Santa Teresa.
“They were probably the best serving team we played all year,” Española head coach Damon Salazar said. “But, our passing needed to be better. Every time we got a ball to the outside, almost every time, we were successful. We just couldn’t get the ball out there enough.”
Salazar said the style that the Southern New Mexico school played was unlike anything they had seen all season because of the versatility of the middles. Their ability to play efficiently from the back row and the different angles presented by their lineup with their smaller players caused issues the entire match.
“Their big middles are like a unicorn,” Salazar said. “They’re big middles that can play back row and they’re very athletic and so, they do some stuff you don’t see that often. It’s tough to defend if you’ve never seen it and we had them scouted, but if you’ve never done it’s hard cause you go to your natural instincts.”
The Lady Sundevils also returned to the state tournament after last year’s team went just 7-12. Their win total was doubled after finishing 14-8.
“We came down here and showed everybody that Española can play some pretty good volleyball,” Salazar said to his team after the defeat. “I’m not upset. We didn’t play our best but I’m not mad. You guys had a hell of a tournament.”