Shiprock outlasts Lady Bengals in five-set thriller

SHIPROCK

The momentum swung both ways.

In the end, it was the Shiprock volleyball team that prevailed in another five-set thriller against the Gallup Lady Bengals in a key District 1-4A victory on Tuesday night.

The Chieftains, which honored their nine seniors in a pregame ceremony, won 22-25, 25-9, 25-27, 25-13, 15-11.

“Our girls had to show resilience a lot this season,” said Shiprock coach Anthony Clah, whose team improved to 13-8 overall and 7-2 in district play. “With Kirtland, we were down in the fifth set, and we came back and won that one. In a lot of our games, we’ve shown a lot of resilience in the end and it’s the girls’ attitude and mindset.

“Credit Gallup because they always give us a good game,” he added.

The matchup on Tuesday was the third meeting between the two schools with Shiprock winning the first one in straight sets during a regular season tournament at Santa Fe Indian School.

Gallup returned the favor by winning in five sets in the first district meeting at home on Oct. 16. In Tuesday’s rematch, the Bengals led 2-1 after three sets, but they could not consolidate its early advantage as errors plagued Gallup’s momentum.

“That’s been happening all season,” Gallup coach LaRena Morris said. “We started off the season very strong, and then maybe the fifth game into the season we lost our competitive edge.”

Morris pinned that issue to injuries and sickness as her club fell to 10-12 overall and 3-6 in district play.

“I have four freshmen on my varsity squad right now because of everything that’s been happening,” she said. “I had to pull them up from JV to fill my varsity squad.”

With that, Morris said her team struggled with chemistry as that led to numerous errors.

“Their chemistry was way off,” she said. “We just couldn’t come together as a team and there was just error after error, and I felt like we were playing catchup the whole time.”

In the opening set, Shiprock senior Nicolette Howard hit a major career milestone as the libero recorded her 1,300th dig. She entered Tuesday’s game with 1,299 digs as the game was stopped to recognize her achievement.

“My motivation is to try and not let the ball hit the ground,” said Howard, who leads the state this season in digs regardless of classification. “I want to try to have long, good rallies. My teammates really encourage me to digging and getting after the ball.”

After that short break, Shiprock erased a 4-1 deficit and led 13-11 after a kill by sophomore Taleah Howard, who finished with a match-high 25 kills.

Gallup, however, took the lead for good on a 6-1 run with senior Nevaeh Whitehair serving across two aces for a 17-14 cushion.

Shiprock closed that gap to 21-19 following a pair of aces from senior Alexis Kenneth. But after trading side outs, the Bengals seized a 24-20 cushion following a Shiprock net error and a dink kill senior middle hitter Summer Joe, who finished with a team-high 21 kills. Despite a late rally from the Chieftains, Gallup won the first set 25-22.

In the next set, Shiprock jumped ahead at 6-1 and never looked back. The Chieftains extended that lead to 19-5 before winning 25-9 as Shiprock recorded six aces.

“I think our matchups lined up differently and it was a little more favorable when we were serving,” Clah said. “That’s the way it turned out, but we seemed to get our people in the right positions, and we just made better decisions.”

In the third set, the Bengals trailed 22-19 before they made a comeback behind the play of Joe. The Gallup middle hitter put down four kills as the Bengals took a 25-24 lead.

The Chieftains tied the set at 25-all with a big hit from Phillips. Nonetheless, they tossed in back-to-back errors to hand Gallup a 27-25 win.

In the fourth, Shiprock elevated its play at the net and service line. The Chieftains served across six aces and batted down a dozen kills to force a fifth set with their 25-13 win.

In the deciding set, Gallup got out to a slight lead with a 4-1 advantage. But the Bengals could not get out of one rotation as Shiprock reeled off seven of the next nine points for an 8-6 lead.

Gallup did get within 9-8 following a dink kill by Montana Dayea. Shiprock, however, looked to Phillips as she put down four kills during a 6-3 rally to give the Chieftains the win.

Both teams will be action tonight with Gallup hosting Aztec while Shiprock plays at Miyamura as that game is a must-win game for the Chieftains.

Clah acknowledged there is a miniscule chance that the Chieftains can make the 4A playoffs as the volleyball selection committee for the New Mexico Activities Association will convene over the weekend. On Sunday, they will release the 12-team state playoff brackets.

“We got to take care of the things that we can control, which is win our matches,” Clah said. “For our next game with Miyamura, the best thing that we can do is win that match and hopefully the state and the rest of the coaches will think that we deserve to be in.”

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