MV comes up short in 3A state quarterfinals: Tuba eliminated in opening round

WINDOW ROCK

Winning a state title is ridiculously hard.

The Monument Valley volleyball team came up short in its bid to win the program’s 15th state crown on Saturday night.

The Mustangs must wait another season to do so, as MV fell in the Elite Eight round at the Arizona Interscholastic Association 3A Conference state volleyball tournament at Millennium High School in Goodyear, Arizona.

“At any state tournament it’s always going to be tough,” longtime MV coach Rennell Gilmore said. “It’s a whole different atmosphere and feeling and when you lose, you’re done.”

After eliminating Tucson Tanque Verde in the four sets (23-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-14) in the first round on Saturday afternoon, the fifth-seeded MV squad ran into a roadblock in the quarterfinals, losing to No. 4 Gilbert Christian in straight sets. The set scores were 25-17, 25-6, 25-19.

“The second set we definitely struggled in serve-receive,” Gilmore said. “They got the best of us with serve-receive but obviously we were able to bounce back, and we fought hard in the third set with the scoring being a little closer.”

Both clubs played in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix earlier this year, but they did not play each other as they were placed in separate brackets. Nonetheless, the two teams have a history together when it comes to the playoffs.

Gilmore said they beat Gilbert Christian when their head coach Andrew Rasmussen started his coaching career in the first round of the playoffs. Gilbert Christian returned the favor in 2022, winning in five sets.

“Coming into this matchup, coach and I chit-chatted a little bit and obviously this time around he had a lot of decent girls on his team,” Gilmore said. “Their serves were pretty tough, so we struggled with our serve-receive.”

The MV coach said Rasmussen had a few girls on his team that could put the ball away, but they were still able to execute on their end.

“We were able to dig the balls and we did a good job of blocking,” Gilmore said. “We put the ball away ourselves but serve-receive got the best of us.”

With the loss, MV finished the year at 15-2 overall, which excludes all regular season tournament games. In 3A North Region play, the Mustangs went 10-0 in the regular season before they captured the regional tournament on Nov. 1.

“This year went well,” Gilmore said when asked to assess the season. “We had some injuries that came our way, but the girls were able to adjust, and we had some girls that were able to step in and help out.

“We were able to be the regional champs,” she added. “I know we weren’t able to do that last year, so that’s in itself.”

In addition to winning the regional crown, the Mustangs achieved personal milestones and they earned some postseason accolades.

“Tehya (Yazzie) got her 1000th kills and she was player of the year,” Gilmore said. “We had our libero, Kamron Secakuku, get defensive player of the year and some of our girls made first- and second-team in our region, so that played well for us.”

Tuba City

To reach the quarterfinals, Gilbert Christian beat No. 13 seed Tuba City in straight sets, winning 25-14, 25-14, 25-12 late Saturday afternoon.

“Gilbert Christian has three Division I signees and it was evident that they can really hit the ball down,” Tuba City coach Kristen Balcerek said. “They’re a well-rounded team with a lot of physical power and so they’re hard to stop, but I think my girls did a good job of staying level-headed because anytime you play against a team like Gilbert Christian, it’s very easy to give up.

“My girls did a good job of putting up that challenge, putting up that fight of wanting to play those girls,” she added. “As their coach I always want to challenge them to do more and do better. I just told them to continue to play and fight as hard as they could.”

The straight set loss ended the Warriors season at 11-5 overall in Balcerek’s first season.

“I feel like my team did a real good job this year,” Balcerek said. “They dealt with a lot of adversity this year. I think dealing with a change in coaching staff with me being their new coach it’s a lot to get used to.

“They did a really good job, and they had a winning season,” she continued. “They took second in the region, and they went to state and overall, they did what I asked them to do. They were always wanting to improve and the did an excellent job so I’m really proud of them.”

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