‘More of a family’: Farmington VB ends 20-year drought

Posted by Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi | Oct 26, 2017 | Volleyball |

Navajo Times | Sunnie R. Clahchischiligi
Farmington High School junior Jadyn Curry (right) goes up for a block during a District 1-5A match with Aztec High School. Farmington won its first regular season district title in 20 years; the Lady Scorpions have an 8-0 district record. The last time Farmington won a regular season district title was in 1997, when current Farmington coach Alana Rowland was a senior on the team.

FARMINGTON

It took exactly 20 years for the Farmington High School volleyball team to feel that winning feeling again.

The Lady Scorpions ended a nearly 20-year drought and clinched the District 1-5A regular season district title for the first time since 1997. The Scorpions are 15-3 overall and 8-0 in District 1-5A and had two matches left at the time of deadline, but their wins qualified them for regular district season champs.

Farmington head coach Alana Rowland, who was a member of the 1997 team who won the last district title, said it was a long time coming for the team and program.

She returned to Farmington as the head coach last season after coaching at the college level for over 10 years.

“It’s super exciting,” she said. “I wasn’t sure what to think about coming into the high school level having been at the college level for 12 years. I was a little naive I think last year having to develop players at a young age. The turnaround in a year has been phenomenal.”

Rowland stepped into uncharted territory last season.

She knew the team had what it took; it was just a question of how to get them to see it.

She said they needed confidence and this season they finally got it thanks to a mixture of hard work and talent.

“A lot of it has to do with the girls’ overall energy,” she said. “This group has been playing together for a while and they truly trust each other. I don’t want to say they’re best friends off the court, but this is a very tight-knit, close team.”

Monica Briones, Farmington’s senior setter and team captain this season and last, said in the four years she has played on the team it was never about the physical ability to play, so when they finally figured that out, good things came with it.

“We’ve always been a pretty good team. We had basically the same team last year, but what made the difference I think is the way we play together and our mental toughness,” she said. “It was definitely mental toughness. We do a lot of drills that work on our mental game and overcoming basically our mental struggles.”

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