Farmington, PV netters to be tested in Rio Rancho tournament
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Piedra Vista senior Kahleena Smith gets the ball up during the Four Corners Honors Tournament at Farmington High School on Friday, Sept. 4. The Lady Panthers (9-1) will be tested competing in the Rio Rancho High School VolleyBash this weekend.
WINDOW ROCK
The annual Rio Rancho High School VolleyBash is expected to be highly competitive for good reason.
The 16-team tournament starts with pool play today at 9 a.m. at Rio Rancho and Cleveland high schools as the tournament draws some of the best 5A and 4A volleyball programs in the state. Among the teams competing are Piedra Vista (9-1) and Farmington (10-1-1).
“We’re really excited for the Rio Rancho tournament because we’ll see teams within our district,” PV coach Rebekah Caliendo said of Rio Rancho, Cleveland and Volcano Vista. “It’s going to prove to us to see if we’re ready for district.”
The field will also include perennial powerhouse teams such as Las Cruces, La Cueva, Los Lunas, Cibola and St. Pius X, with Las Cruces coming in as the defending champion.
“A lot of those teams are very tall and very athletic,” Farmington first-year coach Kailey Becenti said. “But we want to make sure that those other teams don’t underestimate us because we’re working just as hard on and off the court.”
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
First-year Farmington volleyball coach Kailey Becenti paces the sideline in this file photo. Farmington enters the Rio Rancho High School VolleyBash tournament with a 10-1-1 record.
PV will play St. Pius X, Las Cruces Centennial and Roswell in its pool. The Lady Panthers will be leaning on a strong core of seniors, headed by right-side hitters Ellie Ivie and Niyeli Walker-Collins.
“We’re big, but some of those other teams are bigger,” Caliendo said. “We have to figure out how we can control our side. We need to pick up those hard hits and block aggressively at the net.”
Farmington has Cleveland, Los Lunas and Hobbs in its pool. The Scorps have seen consistent play this season from seniors Reese Robbins, a middle hitter, Sage Murray and Nora McPherson, both outside hitters, Kinzley Verhulst, a setter, and Khloie Chavez, a middle hitter, along with junior libero Olivia Bermudez.
“We’re using this tournament to prepare for our district,” Becenti said. “We’re going to see some adversity with different people across the net who have been playing a lot of club ball.
“Some people might forget us, you know, being the northwest corner of the state, but we’re going to try and gun it and make sure that we compete with these big 5A schools.”
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