In their debut District 2AAAA match Oct. 1, the Española Valley High School Sundevils fought tooth and nail for a 27-25 second-game win against Capital High School. It was enough to make their fans and coach excited about a possible match victory after the team dropped the first game 25-19.
Diving and scrapping for every ball that came over the net, the Sundevils played the type of volleyball that head coach Gary Maskaly has been waiting for.
“They didn’t let a ball hit the floor,” Maskaly said. “They played like the team I know they can be.”
Unfortunately, that team didn’t show up in the third and fourth games, and the Sundevils lost 25-21 and 25-1, handing the 3-1 match to the Jaguars.
The Sundevils fell to 2-11 on the season and 0-1 in district play. Capital is 7-5 overall and 1-0 in district play.
In the first game of the match, the Sundevils took a 6-3 lead on three kills by Madlyn Romero, but Capital battled back and went ahead 9-7 after an Española service error.
The two teams battled back and forth and the score was 15-15 after an ace by Española’s Rachel Romero, but Capital took advantage of the Sundevils’ serve and receive errors to put together an 8-1 run.
In the second game, Española jumped out to a 7-1 lead behind the service of Renee Roybal, then took it to 18-13 thanks to strong play from middle blocker Rachel Romero. But Capital kept chipping away at the lead, and the Jaguars had game point after an Española service error.
Veronica Quintana saved one game point with a kill and Roybal tied the score with another. Española fought off another game point after a well-placed shot by Sabrina Duran, and the Sundevils won the next two points to close the game at 27-25.
Capital jumped out to a 12-5 lead in the third game, but Española had a 7-0 run to tie it up. Capital took back the lead and won despite a late rally by the Sundevils.
“That was a critical game,” Maskaly said. “In the first two games they played great volleyball. Losing that third game broke their confidence.”
The Sundevils submitted meekly to the Jaguars in the fourth game, falling behind 23-10 and committing numerous hitting errors. Capital led from start to finish for a 25-11 victory.
“People starting getting on each other and they weren’t talking,” Maskaly said. “They were focusing on what other people were doing instead of focusing on what they should do.”
The Sundevils face Taos in their next District 2AAAA game. The Tigers are seeking their first victory of the season. Taos is 0-12 so far this year.