Lady Pirates aiming for another state playoff bid
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Valley Lady Pirate Nevaeh Benally gets ready to serve the ball during a volleyball scrimmage last Friday in Fort Defiance.
FORT DEFIANCE – Tom Bizardi and the Valley Lady Pirates are seeking another state playoff bid.
Bizardi coached the Sanders-based team to a play-in game in the Arizona high school 2A state playoffs last season.
The Pirates will attempt that feat while undergoing a major change in its lineup. The Bizardi-coached team is looking to rebuild its setting position with two sophomores.
“We lost two good setters last year, so we’re bringing in two new setters this year,” he said. “We’re trying to teach the older kids to be patient and to work with our setters so they can build some calmness in them. We want to build for the postseason and that’s our main goal.”
The third-year coach returns five veterans from his 13-6 team last season. Three of those players are seniors – Madison Clark, Kaelynn Nez and Natalia Sandoval – and the other two are sophomores Alayna Begaye and Elianna Swatts.
Bizardi said first-year varsity player Nevaeh Benally and Begaye are vying for the setter position.
“We’re kind of well balanced,” he said. “We want to make sure they’re able to work together and so far, I like what I see.
“The seniors are giving my setters confidence because they’re getting their hits and they’re getting their sets,” he added.
Valley made last season’s playoffs, earning the No. 20 seed. The Pirates finished second to St. Johns in the 2A North standings.
The other teams in the region are Greyhills Academy, Hopi, Many Farms, Piñon and Round Valley.
“St. Johns has a good young group coming back,” Bizardi said. “Round Valley has a good young group too. I think we’ll probably fit into that third spot, and it gives us a good chance to make it back to state.”
Still, the Valley coach said they need to win as many nonconference games as it can. The Pirates will play three such teams in St. Michael (Aug. 26), Alchesay (Sept. 27) and Ganado (Oct. 21).
“We have to be prepared for those teams,” Bizardi said. “We need to make sure we win and get our power points. We want to have a good start and be up there in the rankings and remain in the top 24.”
The Pirates will be competing in two tournaments this year, starting with the 3rd Annual Window Rock Lady Scouts Volleyball Tournament Sept. 1-2 and the Rehoboth Christian Invitational Sept. 28-30.
“It gives us the experience of the speed, the height, the vertical and blocking,” Bizardi said of the Window Rock tournament. “We don’t have a summer program and some of these teams locally like Chinle, Window Rock and St. Michaels are always ahead of us.
“We always start in August, so we’re always trying to work from behind and work our way to the top,” he said.
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