The Española Valley High School volleyball team made a couple of easy kills at the beginning of their second set against Los Lunas’s Valencia High School, looking thoroughly in control of the match, after winning the first set, 25-16.
The Lady Sundevils came together in a circle to celebrate their latest kill, to put them up 3-1 in the second set, when the lights in the Edward Medina Gymnasium flickered. The power came back on for a few seconds, amid some noise from the stands, before ultimately shutting off.
As coaches and administrators rushed to their cell phones to get a grip on the situation, the gym slowly lit up with cell phone flashlights. A couple of Valencia players did the “Backpack Kid” dance with a cell phone spotlight on them.
The Lady Sundevils sat in a circle in the middle of the court and drummed on the wood floor.
Athletic Director Paul Roybal announced that the event would be canceled and rescheduled, Sept. 30, at Rio Rancho High School, the location being a middle ground between Valencia and Española.
In that first set, the Lady Sundevils got off to a quick start, let up points in the middle of the set, then ultimately closed the game with a strong kill by Dulce Maldonado in the middle. She clinched the nine-point differential in the score line, giving Española some momentum to ride.
“We were playing a little bit better,” Española head coach Damon Salazar said. “I thought we were cleaner. I thought we were paying a little more attention to detail.”
He was also satisfied with the team’s serving, defense and energy, which has been a problem since the beginning of the season. But, he hopes his team can carry that energy with them into the next sets at the end of the month.
“I wouldn’t say I’m frustrated, it is just something this team will have to deal with … The bad thing is that we’re losing home games.” he said.
The power outage cancellation struck a familiar chord with Salazar, who noted an identical situation happened earlier in the season, Sept. 1, when his team played against Hope Christian School and the power went out during warm-ups.
Eight games have been scheduled for the Lady Sundevils, so far, this season, and three of those eight have been canceled.
Besides the power outage cancellations with Hope Christian and Valencia, the Lady Sundevils were forced to cancel another game against Clovis High School, after the library shooting, Aug. 28, in Clovis. That game will not be rescheduled.
“It has been that kind of year,” Salazar said.
In prior years, he has relied upon these tough, early games to prepare his team for district play, which begins on Sept. 27, against Albuquerque Academy. But, the matches against Hope Christian and Valencia will have to wait until district games have already started.