KC girls take gold at 550 Aztec tourney

AZTEC, N.M.

The Kirtland Central volleyball team showed its versatility during its championship run at the 550 Aztec Tiger Tournament.

The Lady Broncos (7-3) defeated district rivals Shiprock and Bloomfield in four sets each to win the gold bracket at the nine-team tournament on Saturday.

KC edged Bloomfield 22-25, 25-13, 25-17, 25-10 earlier on Saturday and in the late game they beat Shiprock 25-14, 26-28, 25-23, 25-21.

“I think this gives us a good indication of what our district is going to look like,” KC coach Nadia Begay-Watson said. “Shiprock has come a long way in the past couple of years. I think coach (Anthony) Clah has brought them along, and they’ve done a really good job with them. They’ve come together the last couple of years with him being the head coach.”

As for the team’s versatility, Begay-Watson says her team is hard to stop when they’re in system as the Broncos put down 44 kills against Shiprock.

Eight players recorded at least one kill headed by double digit winners from juniors Jasmyn Buckner (12) and Cayla Lee (10). The Broncos also received eight and seven kills, respectively, from junior Kamryn Kee and senior Adrianna Nargo. Senior middle hitter Krista Tsingine-Yazzie added five kills.

“Our setters do a great job of moving that ball,” Watson-Begay said of juniors Madison Howe and Kiana Tsosie. “When we’re in system, we can put that ball down and we try to have at least three hitters all the time.

“With that being said, it’s hard to know where the ball is going,” she added.

The KC coach pointed out that Tsingine-Yazzie has done “an outstanding job” of manning the middle.

“Some players like to shade to the outside, but she stays centered,” Begay-Watson said, while adding that her pupil is one KC’s most consistent hitters.

The same could be said of Buckner, Lee and Kaylyn Cadman. The three hitters presented problems for the opposing teams during the two-day tournament.

“Jasmyn and Cayla have been putting balls away for us and Kaylyn just knows where to place the ball,” Begay-Watson said. “You know, it doesn’t have to be kill every single time with her. She’s pushing those corners and she’s tipping into that middle. She’s finding open spots where the defense is lacking.”

Despite coming up short to KC, Clah was pleased with how they performed at the Aztec tournament. The Chieftains (5-5 overall) went 6-2 pool play and in tournament play they defeated Bloomfield in five sets. The set scores were 24-26, 25-15, 19-25, 25-9, 15-13.

“We had a great tournament here,” Clah said. “There were a lot of good teams with Kirtland and Bloomfield being in the mix. Our girls did really well in pool play and I’m just so proud of them. They did amazing.”

In the finale, Shiprock put away 31 kills headed by sophomore outside hitter Taleah Phillips, who finished with a game-high 23 kills on 59 attempts. The Chieftains also received four kills from senior middle Orie Lowe and two from junior Amia Dennison.

“This season, we’ve worked on having strong net play,” Clah said. “We have to be smart with blocking, hitting and setting and all those things come into play.”

In his first season as their coach, Shiprock finished the season at 10-11 last year. Prior to that, the Chieftains endured some tough years as they went 22-74 over six seasons.

“As a coach, I really focus on the little things,” Clah said. “The little things can add up to big mistakes and for any program it can have overall failure, but the girls have started to listen to me this year.

“They listen to my instructions, and they listen to my coaching and as a result I’m seeing the progress on the court,” he added. “They’re playing good volleyball right now and I’m so proud of them.”

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