Lady Lynx build confidence with win over Tsé Yi’ Gai

REHOBOTH, N.M.

The Rehoboth volleyball team gained much-needed confidence within the past few days.

The Lady Lynx picked up two wins this week after finishing 0-3 in the gold bracket at their 16-team tournament last week.

“I don’t know what it was but we kind of struggled in our tournament with a lot of different things,” Rehoboth coach Charlene Chapman said.

With a young team, Chapman said, confidence was the biggest thing.

On Tuesday, the Lynx swept Tohatchi and they followed that up with a District 1-2A win over Tsé Yi’ Gai on Thursday night.

In last week’s tournament, the Lady Diné Warriors handed Rehoboth it’s fourth loss of the season but the Lynx responded by pulling out a 25-20, 25-19, 25-18 win.

“I think the biggest difference was serves,” Chapman said. “We served aggressively but we served smart. We only had two errors tonight, which hasn’t been done in a long time.”

During the tournament, Chapman said they were not as consistent at the service line. After winning a point, she said, they gave the point right back with an error.

By limited their service errors the Lynx were able to string together some points, especially when they faced some early deficits in the first and third sets.

In the opening set, Tsé Yi’ Gai put down five early kills – two from junior middle hitter Lakoda Jim – for 9-1 cushion.

Tsé Yi’ Gai extended that margin to 11-2 after a back-row kill from sophomore Kalie Trujillo before Rehoboth pulled within 12-10 behind three winners each from senior outside hitter Patricia Chavira and junior outside hitter Ashley Skeets.

The Diné Warriors gained a little breathing room on a dink kill by Trujillo for a 17-12 advantage but Rehoboth finished out the set on a 13-3 run for a 25-20 win.

Both teams traded side outs in the next set as there were 11 early ties before Tsé Yi’ Gai used a 4-1 run that broke a 13-13 stalemate for a 17-14 lead.

Behind some crisp serves and timely kills, Rehoboth secured the second set behind an 11-2 surge with junior Raynique Francisco putting away four kills.

Tsé Yi Gai got off to another dominant start as they built an 8-2 cushion after an ace by Jim at the start of the third set.

The Lynx chipped away at that deficit and tied the set at 9-all. Nonetheless, Trujillo initiated a 4-0 run for the Diné Warriors for a 13-9 lead but a dropped ball swung the momentum the other way.

The Lynx used that Tsé Yi’ Gai error and broke open the game with a 21-14 cushion before winning 25-18.

“We beat them at their tournament but Rehoboth knew what to expect,” first-year Tsé Yi’ Gai coach Paula Largo said. “They knew exactly how we like to play and they made the adjustments. They were ready for us and they stepped up their game.”

And although they dropped this game, Largo is optimistic about the rest of the season as the Diné Warriors are looking to make the state playoffs.

“I think we have a real good team,” said Largo, whose team dropped to 6-3 overall. “We’re working together and my captains are doing a pretty good job keeping the team together.”

Tsé Yi’ Gai finished with 22 kills with Jim totaling 10 and Trujillo adding six.

Rehoboth had two players finish with double-digit kills with Skeets putting away 11 and Francisco adding 10. Chavira, meanwhile, chipped in eight.

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