The Pojoaque Valley volleyball team went all-out for their “Dig Pink” night.
In honor of breast cancer awareness month, the players wore special temporary pink jerseys, the gymnasium was decorated, and coach Joe Rodriguez had his beard dyed pink — fulfilling a promise that hinged on winning early-season tournaments. Rodriguez said they also raise money through shirt sales for members of the community, usually between $500 and $1,000.
“There’s hope, there’s strength within our community, and we’re fighting for our fighters, our survivors, and our taken,” said senior Kaylee Salazar.
The Elkettes (13-2, 3-0) continued cruising through the season with a dominant straight-sets win (25-11, 25-9, 25-8) over Española Valley (2-16, 0-4) at home on Oct. 13, setting up a first-place battle on Tuesday with Los Alamos (12-5, 3-0).
Despite the 3-0 start to district play, Rodriguez was still disappointed in dropping a set to Taos and Moriarty.
Salazar, who stepped into the starting libero role after moving up from junior varsity, has been a key player in Pojoaque’s success.
“I’ve been able to gain a lot of good experience,” she said. “I love the girls that I’m playing with this year. We all get along super well, and I think we all are doing a good job at motivating each other.”
Salazar said their 13-2 start has put a bit of pressure on the team, but she has enjoyed the boost in confidence.
Pojoaque won the first three points of the match, and never struggled at all. They finished the match with a double-digit scoring run on the serve of Anica Urioste.
Setter Joslyn Nuñez had an impressive night with 30 assists, and the last two of the night went to backup Yareli Rodriguez, who subbed in for the match’s last three points. Urioste registered 11 kills and six aces. Quintana had eight kills, while Larissa Rodriguez had seven kills and three solo blocks.
Leah Vigil had 11 assists for the Sundevils. Mercedes Gonzales led the team with four kills and two blocks.
The Elkettes also swept the junior varsity match — 25-9, 25-6 — and the C team — 25-15, 25-13.
The Sundevils, now at 2-16 after finishing last season on a 12-match losing streak, are left searching for answers.
“We’ve had a rough season, and it’s not a secret,” coach Nicole Romero said. “I can’t figure it out, I have to laugh about it because I can’t figure it out, it’s almost driving me crazy.”
With a young team with multiple starting freshmen, Romero said they were still “immature” as players and lacking effort and passion to win. While off-the-court issues have subsided, Romero said the issues are mindset-related.
“I’m struggling through this season and I feel like I’ve failed my girls, to an extent,” she said.
Pojoaque faces Los Alamos on Tuesday on the road, the first of two matchups that will likely determine the district champion, with both likely to be high seeds at state. But Los Alamos won both matchups last year, and in fact has won nine straight matches dating back to 2018, when current seniors were still in middle school. Six of those nine losses have been in five sets.
For Salazar, who played for two years on the junior varsity team before moving to Pojoaque, she gets a chance to face off with her former team.
“I’m a little nervous, I’m not going to lie,” she said. “But I’m using it to play a tough game.”