Tuba City netters even 3A North record with four-set win over Chinle

CHINLE

The Tuba City volleyball team were within a few points of completing the sweep over the Chinle Lady Wildcats on Monday night.

After winning the first two sets, the Warriors (3-4 overall) looked to be in cruise control as they built an 18-10 advantage in the third set. That eight-point cushion, however, was short-lived as Chinle (2-6) force an extra set by outscoring Tuba City 15-to-4 to complete a 25-22 rally win.

The Wildcats, who were coming off a four-set loss to St. Johns last week, carried that momentum into the next set as Chinle seized a 10-7 lead after an outside hill from junior Charmayne Yazzie.

Nonetheless, Tuba City righted its ship and finished off the Wildcats to even its 3A North record to 1-1. The set scores were 25-17, 25-16, 22-25, 25-16.

“I think we did a fairly good job,” first-year Tuba coach Kristen Balcerek said. “I’m not quite sure what happened in that third set, but I think we just got a little too comfortable.

“We kind of stop doing the little things, but overall, I feel like my girls did a good job,” she added. “We’re still trying to make improvements and we’re still trying to figure out a lineup that’s gonna work because we have several injuries, so we’re working through that.”

All told, Balcerek was missing four girls on her roster on Monday night that included three starters. With that, the Tuba coach switched out players throughout the match as she attempted to find a cohesive six that could work together.

“All my girls have the potential to play,” she said. “I mean, I feel like I have a good squad and it’s a matter of us pulling all the pieces together. We just have to do the little things, like talking, communicating and being aggressive.”

Some of that aggressiveness showed in the first two sets as Tuba pulled away from the Wildcats.

“We did what we were supposed to do,” Balcerek said of the two opening sets. “We were playing aggressive, but when we got to the third set, we got too comfortable. It really comes down to making sure that we finish out our games.”

Despite coming up short, Chinle coach Kyron White was pleased that they were able to push Tuba to four sets.

“Overall, I’m glad that we were able to take a set from them,” White said. “It shows my girls that we’re right there and that we can push these teams in the 3A North. This section is competitive, and I think we’re right in the mix with all these good teams.”

White said his team started off strong in the opening two sets, but they had a few lapses where Tuba took advantage of his inexperience team.

“I have a lot of seniors on this team, but a lot of them haven’t played at the varsity level,” he said. “They’re still learning their roles and they’re still learning how to respond in those tight situations.”

Still, White saw a glimpse of what his team is capable of during Chinle’s third-set rally. After the Warriors put down nine early kills, including three by senior Aubrey Begaye, for an 18-10 cushion, Chinle received a pair of kills from senior middle hitter Jada Kee that got the Wildcats within 18-14.

An ace by senior Kyonia Denetdeel started a 6-2 Chinle run as a hitting error by Tuba knotted the set at 20-all. The Warriors then took a 22-20 lead with a service from sophomore Arianna Saganitso and an outside attack from freshman Yasmine Ataya.

A net error by Tuba shifted the momentum to the other side as Chinle capped the set with a pair of kills, including the game winner by Denetdeel.

“This team is really versatile in terms of offense,” White said. “You know, they’re capable of playing like that throughout the game. We just got to learn how to keep that momentum.”

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