Thoreau shows grit, tenacity at 3A playoffs

RIO RANCHO, N.M. – Thoreau’s persistence gave its opponents fits during the New Mexico Class 3A State Volleyball Championships.

The Lady Hawks entered last week’s playoffs as the 12th seed. Despite its low seed, Thoreau played as if they were one of the higher seeded teams in the 12-team 3A bracket.

“They showed up and they did really great,” first-year Thoreau coach Sheila Willie said of her squad.

The Hawks opened the tournament last Thursday with 3-0 loss to No. 5 Las Vegas Robertson, but the Hawks didn’t go down easy as Robertson emerged with a 25-22, 26-24 and 25-16 win.

In Friday’s elimination game, Thoreau pushed No. 6 seed Ruidoso to five sets before falling short 20-25, 25-9, 25-15, 19-25 and 15-8.

“I think we proved that we belonged here,” Thoreau outside hitter Leticia Sena said. “I feel like our area doesn’t always get the respect it deserves in volleyball, so we had to show that we can play tough.

“We played No. 5 and No. 6 teams, and we made them work for their wins,” she added.

This was Thoreau’s second trip to the playoffs in the last three years as five players from this season’s squad played on the 2022 team that made the state tournament.

“We made it once before and we believed that we could get back to state,” junior setter Keira Begay. “We really pushed ourselves and we worked really hard to make that happy.”

When asked to reflect on its game with Robertson, Begay said they proved their worth early in the contest as the Hawks stayed within striking distance.

“We were ready to play them,” Begay said. “I think placing the ball was what really helped us in those first two sets. Our serves, helped us, too. We had some crazy float serves, and we just put the ball away.”

In its five-set loss to Ruidoso, Begay said they lost their momentum down the stretch.

“Our energy went down, especially in the fifth set,” Begay said.

The Thoreau coach added that the match could have gone either way as the two teams split the first four sets.

“It was just back and forth,” Willie said. “They would do a run, and we would do a run. It just made the game that more exciting.”

But in the fifth set, Ruidoso closed out the match on a 6-1 run to end Thoreau’s season.

“It could have went either way,” Willie said of the match.

Afterward, the Thoreau coach had consoled her team as the Hawks are set to graduate five players next year. The senior class includes Krischelle Largo, Cassidy Curley, Rhaelana Estrada, Navaeah Toledo and Sena.

“The seniors are the ones that are upset,” Willie said. “I’m losing some good players, but I have a good team coming back, so we’re looking forward to that.”

Besides making the playoffs, the Hawks were declared the District 1-3A champion after they posted an 11-1 mark. District rival Tohatchi also finished with an 11-1 mark, but Thoreau won the tiebreaker based on the head-to-head games between the two squads.

Earlier in the season, Tohatchi beat Thoreau in four sets in Thoreau. In the rematch, Thoreau swept the Cougars on Tohatchi’s home court.

“That was so cool,” Sena said of winning the district. “We’ve been working on that all four years that I’ve been on varsity. We had never won at Tohatchi in at least five years, so going there and beating them in three was so cool.

“I think a lot of people thought that would have been an easy win over us, but we showed up,” Sena added. “We came together in that game, and we did really well.”

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