N.M. state volleyball playoffs Rehoboth Christian lone area team to win on Thursday as seven other local teams come up short

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Nov 13, 2026 | Volleyball |

RIO RANCHO, N.M.

The Rehoboth Christian Lady Lynx are one win away from reaching the final four for the first time in the New Mexico Class 2A state volleyball tournament.

The third-seeded Lynx (21-3) swept No. 6 McCurdy in straight sets at Rio Rancho High School on Thursday afternoon. The set scores were 25-16, 25-18, 25-21.

Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Kirtland Central senior Jasmyn Buckner keeps the ball up during a rally against the Silver Colts on Thursday morning at Rio Rancho Event Center in the New Mexico Class 4A state playoffs. KC fell short in five sets.

“We had some battles, but when we needed a side out or a score, we got that,” longtime Rehoboth coach Char Chapman said. “It’s just more or less just trusting your training and trusting your teammates. If we do that, we’re going to do well.”

Behind a balanced hitting attack, Rehoboth finished the match with 32 kills and nine aces. Senior middle hitter Chloe Frederiksen led the Lynx with 15 kills while senior hitter/setter Shanoah Eddie added seven kills and three aces.

“We always try to mix it up,” Chapman said of the team’s offensive attack. “We do that because there are times when we have teams that will try to shut down one of our hitters, so we need others to step up.”

The Lynx play No. 2 Gateway Christian at noon Friday. In the other half of the winner’s bracket, No. 1 Legacy Academy faces No. 4 Mesilla Valley Christian, also at noon.

“Gateway ended up as the second seed, and we were third,” Chapman said. “We were tied with them (in the seeding criteria) and so the tiebreaker came down to points. I haven’t seen them play yet, but I think we’ll be ready for whatever they throw at us.”

Rehoboth was the only area team to win Thursday as seven other teams dropped their opening-round matches. Those teams must now work their way through the elimination rounds, winning three matches Friday to reach Saturday’s final four.

In the 1A bracket, To’hajiilee (19-3) had its 13-match winning streak snapped as the eighth-seeded Lady Warriors fell to No. 9 Mora in four sets at Cleveland High School. The set scores were 21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-17.

“I felt like we needed this loss because there was a lot of pressure on the girls,” To’hajiilee coach Rethania Jake said. “I mean, we won 13 straight and today we struggled.”

Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
To’hajiilee’s Sacorra Tenorio (5) has her spike attempt blocked by Mora’s Aspen Alcon (9) during the first round of the New Mexico Class 1A state volleyball playoffs at Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho, N.M. To’hajiilee dropped a four-set decision to Mora.

The second-year coach said the program’s first state tournament appearance contributed to the players’ nerves.

“This loss was really tough on us, and hopefully we can come back tomorrow (Friday) and work stronger as a team,” she said. “I think we had a lot of jitters because of the expectations, and this is the first time in school history that we’ve made it to state in volleyball at To’hajiilee ever, so they were feeling that pressure too.”

To’hajiilee faces No. 7 Questa in an elimination match at 8 a.m. Friday at Cleveland High School.

In the 2A bracket, No. 11 Ramah fell to McCurdy in five sets. Ramah won the first two sets before McCurdy rallied for an 18-25, 20-25, 25-16, 26-24, 15-10 victory.

The Mustangs will try to regroup against No. 5 Tatum at 10 a.m. Friday at Rio Rancho High School.

At the Rio Rancho Events Center, No. 6 Shiprock, No. 7 Navajo Prep and No. 12 Tohatchi lost their opening-round matches in the 3A state bracket.

Shiprock and Navajo Prep were both swept. The Lady Chieftains fell to No. 11 Sandia Prep 25-13, 25-15, 25-21 while Navajo Prep lost to No. 10 Cottonwood Classical Prep 25-21, 25-15, 25-17.

Tohatchi, meanwhile, went four sets against No. 5 Cobre, which won 25-17, 26-24, 21-25, 25-8.

Friday’s elimination matches have Tohatchi facing No. 3 Santa Fe Indian School, Shiprock taking on No. 4 New Mexico Military Institute and Navajo Prep playing No. 9 East Mountain. All three matches are scheduled for 8 a.m. at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

In 4A, No. 9 Kirtland Central went five sets with No. 8 Silver before falling 25-21, 23-25, 20-25, 25-17, 15-9. The Lady Broncos face seventh-seeded Portales at 10 a.m. Friday at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

In 5A, No. 9 Piedra Vista was swept by No. 8 Cibola 25-19, 25-22, 25-22. The Panthers face No. 10 Clovis at noon Friday at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

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