Santa Fe Indian loses a heartbreaker at state

RIO RANCHO, N.M. – The Santa Fe Indian School Lady Braves will have to wait another year in search of the school’s first state crown in volleyball.

The Braves, who are made up of mostly underclassmen, were one game away from making the Final Four round as Santa Fe Indian put up a good fight against district rival Las Vegas Robertson on Saturday morning at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

The Braves pushed Robertson to five before falling 22-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-23, and 15-8.

“This stings, this hurts,” SFIS coach Joseph Garcia said. “We know that we can battle with anybody in our district, and today, we came out on fire.”

Since taking over the program three seasons ago, Garcia maintains that his coaching staff is working hard at earning that state championship trophy.

“It’s a new era of Lady Braves volleyball,” Garcia said. “We’re on a mission. Our school has gotten (state) trophies in probably every sport except volleyball. When we came in as coaches, we said we’re going to do it, and we’re committed.”

Santa Fe Indian erased a two-point deficit in the opening set and won 25-22 behind a 5-0 run, which included a stuff block from junior middle hitter Kasey Tsosie and back-to-back aces from Kailynn Calabaza.

In the second, the Robertson seized a 10-5 advantage. The Braves did get within 13-10, but Robertson’s 6-foot-two-inch senior middle hitter Alyxa King-Greenwalt swatted away five kills to end that threat, with the Cardinals winning 25-17.

In the third, King-Greenwalt made her presence known early in the set with seven kills. The Braves countered that attack with four players chipping in five winners as both clubs traded side-outs to an 11-11 tie.

The Braves then used a 10-4 run to go up 21-15 behind three kills from Calabaza and two winners, senior Haley Aguilar.

With that cushion, SFIS claimed the third set.

In a back-and-forth affair, the Cardinals evened the match two sets apiece thanks to a 5-2 run late in the fourth, with Robertson sophomore middle hitter Devynne Jenkins capping the rally with a big kill.

In the fifth, the Braves trailed early as King-Greenwalt went to work and delivered four early kills for a 6-3 cushion. The margin was extended to 10-5 despite Garcia trying to regroup his players with a pair of timeouts. King-Greenwalt pounded her 23rd and 24th kill to seal the win for Robertson.

“We’ve never gone five sets at state,” Garcia said. “Those are pressurized moments that we’re gonna learn from. We only have one senior, and she’s been the staple of this program for four years.

“Yes, we’re gonna miss her,” Garcia said of Aguilar. “But we’re gonna work hard and keep going.”

Robertson finished the match with 51 kills, which was three more than Santa Fe Indian. Tsosie, who has roots in the Dennehotso, Arizona area, led the Braves with 17 kills while Aguilar and Calabaza added nine each.

“We started off the game with high energy,” Tsosie said when asked to reflect on the match. “We wanted to make sure that we were playing with confidence and that we were ready to play.”

But in the fifth, she sensed the morale on the team dropped as Robertson pulled away.

“That kind of brought us down, and, you know, the captains tried to bring the team up,” she added. “We just tried to pick each other up, but we just couldn’t this time.”

Nonetheless, Tsosie believes the team will go a lot farther next year as Aguilar is the only member of the team graduating.

“I think what we did was amazing,” Tsosie said. “Yes, we came out with the loss, but I’m so proud of my team. I just know that we’re going to come back even stronger next year.

“We’re going to go back in the gym, and we’re going to fight, and we’re going to work harder.”

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