The McCurdy Bobcats have struggled in recent years. But if their first match is any indication, they could be ready to turn a corner.
“This is our first game, so it’s kind of hard to tell,” said McCurdy Coach Maxine Martinez. “It wasn’t beautiful, but I’m proud of them.”
Bobcat volleyball got off to a hot start to the 2023 season on Tuesday, defeating Monte Del Sol in straight sets: 25-1, 25-13, 25-17. The match was played at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center in Santa Fe. McCurdy has just four combined wins over the past three seasons, but seems to have improved this year, with a shot at becoming a contending team in their district.
The Bobcats dominated from the service stripe. They finished the game with 27 aces. Thirteen of those came from the arm of Mariana Arambula. But serving was also their weakness at times, with 17 service errors; at times it seemed the only way Monte Del Sol could win a side-out was a missed serve.
Maxine Martinez takes over as head coach this year after Jojo Sanchez coached for four seasons. Martinez had been an assistant in 2022.
McCurdy seems to have more firepower in the front row, with the return of Arambula, who missed most of last year, plus Andrea Croff as a strong hitter.
“We’re happy to have her back,” sophomore setter Kaylee Martinez said of Arambula.
Kaylee Martinez led the team with both eight assists and seven kills. Arambula had six kills, and Paola Gonzales tied with eight assists. And Alanni Boylan added six aces.
“There’s little things that we make mistakes on,” Arambula said. “But I think we could work on it and get better at it.”
A strength for the McCurdy team seems to be their off-the-court connection, with a group of players that seem to be tight friends.
“Having fun playing and winning games now makes it even better for us,” Arambula said.
In the first set, McCurdy took an early lead at 11-6, but the Dragons fought back to stay close. But a late run gave McCurdy the win in the set 25-19.
For set two, the Bobcats dropped the first set, then won five straight points. They added eight more on Arambula’s serve, and quickly led 17-4. Monte Del Sol made a bit of a run, but far too late, as McCurdy won the set by double digits. And in the final set, McCurdy took an early 8-2 lead, and a long service run by Boylan led to eight straight points as the Bobcats closed out the sweep.
All 10 of McCurdy’s varsity players saw the court in their first match.
The McCurdy junior varsity team also got a win in straight sets.
In McCurdy’s district, defending champion Escalante could take a step back after losing a large group of seniors, while Mora finished the 2022 season on a strong run.
“It really all just depends on us, if we play hard for what we want,” Arambula said.