NM 3A state volleyball, Santa Fe Indian, Tohatchi making history

RIO RANCHO, N.M.

The Santa Fe Indian and the Tohatchi volleyball programs are looking to start new traditions.

The two teams advanced into the Day 3 of the New Mexico Class 3A state volleyball tournament on Friday afternoon.

Santa Fe Indian (20-5 overall) swept No. 2 seed Hot Springs in straight sets at the Rio Rancho Event Center.

SFIS, the third seed, won 25-17, 25-13 and 25-18, as the Lady Braves advanced into the final four round.

“We’re on a mission,” SFIS coach Joseph Garcia said. “We’re making history for our school. Never has Santa Fe Indian gotten this far.

“This is a special group and it started at the beginning of the year to where they held us coaches accountable and committing to the program.”

Santa Fe Indian served tough as it got Hot Springs out of system for much the contest. The Braves also dictated the net, getting the hits it wanted.

“We really executed with our serves, knowing that they were a little bit frustrated on that first contact,” Garcia said. “We generated a lot of free balls and then we went to work, making sure we put that ball down.”

With ample arms, the SFIS coach said they kept Hot Springs on its toes.

“I have hitters that are so versatile,” he said. “We’ve always stressed them to use your tools in your toolbox … they all have different type of hits and they’re capable of hitting from anywhere on the court.”

The Braves will await the winner between No. 7 West Las Vegas and No. 4 Sandia Prep. In the top half, top seed Santa Fe St. Michael’s will take on the survivor between Hot Springs and ninth seed Tohatchi. Both semifinal matches are scheduled for noon at the RRES.

The championship game is slated for 4 p.m.

“We love our chances,” Garcia said. “It’s all starts with the belief, heart and passion that these girls have. They are using that ‘it’s us against the world’ mentality right now.

“We just got to play our style of ball and we should be fine,” he said.

Tohatchi

After losing to St. Michael’s on Thursday, Tohatchi bounced back with a pair of wins in the elimination bracket.

The ninth-seeded Lady Cougars (23-4) defeated No. 10 Cobre 25-11, 25-16 and 25-23 Friday morning before outslugging No. 5 seed Tucumcari in four sets, winning 25-15, 14-25, 25-16 and 25-19.

“This is the first time in our school history that we’ve gone this far in the sport of volleyball,” second-year Tohatchi coach Jonath Gee said. “We’re peaking at the right time. The girls are talking and they’re moving. We still have our breakdowns here and there, but the most important thing is the girls are understanding that we’re a hitting team and not a tipping team.”

Tohatchi had a 37 to 30 advantage in kills with senior Marisa Denetso leading the charge with 13 while junior Kayanna Capitan put down a dozen.

“They were our go-to players,” Gee said of his two power hitters. “We also got some great blocking from by Devyn Harvey. She had a couple of key blocks.”

The Cougars outhit the Lady Rattlers of Tucumcari in the sets they won. The only time Tohatchi came up short in that department, the Rattlers coasted to 25-14 win in set two with a 10 to 7 edge in kills.

“We were able to rally together and hype each other back up,” Gee said. “I like to thank the Tohatchi community for supporting us. The noise really helped us push along, and the girls seemed to feed off the support and energy from the crowd.

Tohatchi plays Hot Springs at 8 a.m. in Rio Rancho with the winner advancing to take on Santa Fe Indian at noon.

“We’re looking forward to that game,” Gee said.

Earlier on Friday, Tucumcari outlasted Navajo Prep in a marathon win. The set scores were 25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 21-25 and 15-11, ending Navajo Prep’s season at 13-11.

“It’s definitely devastating and it’s definitely hard to process,” first-year Navajo Prep coach Martinque Larvingo said. “But at the end of day I’m so proud of my girls. They overcame a lot this season and they showed heart and they played with everything they had.

“Unfortunately, we came up short,” she added. “Tucumcari played a great game as well and they matched up with us well. It really could have gone either way.”

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