Pojoaque ensures stay in 4A tournament with win over Gallup; Los Alamos knocked out
Nov. 13—RIO RANCHO — The goal was to beat Gallup.
Anything else the Pojoaque Valley volleyball team did Friday was gravy.
It took five games, but the Elkettes did their part Friday morning in the opening round of the Class 4A State Volleyball Tournament by downing Gallup, 25-20, 21-25, 15-25, 25-20, 15-13. The win ensured they will play Saturday, so it took the sting off of a three-game sweep at the hands of top-seeded Albuquerque Hope Christian in the quarterfinals in the Rio Rancho Events Center.
Pojoaque, the fifth seed in the bracket, takes on No. 2 Roswell Goddard in a loser's bracket semifinal at 8 a.m. in the same arena. Joe Rodriguez, the Elkettes head coach, said the team accomplished the goal it set out to do this season — advance in the tournament.
It was the program's first win in five seasons, which was a far cry from when it was one of the best in the state from 2005-13 and won five state titles in that time.
"This season has been a big success, so I'm happy," said Rodriguez, who has how earned his first postseason win in his four years with the program.
However, Rodriguez said he wasn't sure if he'd live to see the Elkettes beat the Lady Bengals, the fourth seed, with the way they played. Gallup took control of the match after losing Game 1, and it took a gutty 25-20 win in Game 4 to force a tiebreaker.
Once again, serving and defense were essential qualities in Pojoaque's win. Anica Urioste was everywhere against the Lady Bengals, as she had 35 digs to go with 14 kills and 11 service points. Shontelle Molina added 25 digs, and Adrianna Rodriguez had 24 to go with eight kills on the offensive end.
Rodriguez said his team's experience in five-game matches was a huge role against the Lady Bengals.
"We've gone five games more than I care to go for," Rodriguez said. "We were down 2-1, and we could have given up, but we stuck in there. Hope, they're a different beast. They don't let you breath with wave after wave [of hitters]."
As for the Lady Huskies, the Elkettes (17-9) put up a strong effort in the opening game before Hope Christian (23-2) won 25-20. After that, it was all downhill for the Elkettes, as they lost the last two games, 25-11, 25-13.
"If we're not putting balls down or getting aces or getting them out of system, we struggle," Rodriguez said. "We can hang for a while, but they're just too deep position-wise. Those are girls who have played volleyball all their lives.
That's the difference between their team and ours."
Meanwhile, third-seeded Los Alamos had struggled through its tournament before bowing out in the loser's bracket. It didn't help that sophomore setter Angelina Passalacqua broke her wrist just two plays into the opener against No. 7 Santa Teresa.
That had a huge impact in the Desert Warriors' 24-26, 25-13, 25-22, 25-23 win.
In the consolation round against No. 2 Roswell Goddard, the Lady Rockets used a 7-1 run in the first game to eke out a 25-23 win. They completed the sweep with 25-21, 25-15 wins.
The Lady Hilltoppers ended their season with a 17-8 record.
