Unfinished business
Lady Jaguars just missed trip to state tournament last season after improving record to 14-8
Breakthrough seasons are not supposed to end with a dream deferred. The Capital Lady Jaguars did almost everything right during its 2016 volleyball season, but one of the few things they did wrong left them with an empty feeling in November. After winning just seven matches over the past three seasons — including an 0-20 mark in 2013 — Capital doubled that win total in just one season.
In fact, the 14-8 record the Lady Jaguars compiled was the program’s best in 16 years. Here is where the “but” emerges from this potential feel-good story.
But Capital didn’t quite do its job in District 2-5A play.
Neither did the Española Valley Lady Sundevils, for that matter.
The Lady Jaguars’ dream season turned nightmarish just two days before Halloween when Albuquerque Del Norte beat eventual district champion Española Valley. It turned a two-way tie for second place between Capital and Los Alamos in 2-5A into a three-way mess with the Lady Knights.
Emerging from that quagmire with the second
seed in the district tournament was Del Norte. Capital grabbed the fourth seed. That stroke of misfortune caused the Lady Jaguars to miss the Class 5A State Tournament for the eighth straight year.
And if anyone could have felt worse for Capital, it was Española head coach Damon Salazar and the Lady Sundevils.
“We were bummed out,” Salazar said. “Del Norte got in, and they did some good work during the year. I just thought Capital was the better team last year. I thought they were the second-best team in the district, not to take anything away from any of the other teams.”
When the Lady Jaguars painfully watched the 5A bracket unveiled online, they were heartbroken. “We were there, just waiting, hoping that our name came out on that list,” fourthyear Capital head coach Max Vargas said. “But it didn’t.”
“It just reminded us of every point,” senior Ishara Sorensen said. “If we had just won that one point, maybe it would have pushed us into state.”
The bitter pill the Lady Jaguars swallowed that day transformed into determination and motivation for the 2017 season. But perhaps more important was the discipline Vargas and assistant coach Gabrielle Vigil instilled into the program when they took over in 2014 after that winless season.
“The girls didn’t try as hard,” Vargas recalled during his first season. “When Gabs and I first got there, they started listening and we started to push them hard. I think they respected us better. I don’t think they respected the old coaches as much.”
The Lady Jaguars progressed from 2-16 in Vargas’ first year to five wins in 2015 to a breakthrough last season. The team earned a reputation as a defensively sound team that made teams work for their points during that stretch, but what it lacked was strong hitters and confidence.
Both of those came in waves in 2016, thanks to the play of thenjuniors Sorensen, Gaby Ornelas and Sofia Garcia. The trio combined for 19 kills per match last year. As much as the hitting has come around, it is augmented by a coaching staff that likes to run a variety of sets to keep opponents on their heels.
“We’re constantly changing defenses, offenses, creating plays, new sets, and they try it immediately,” Vigil said. “They are uncomfortable, but they understand that it takes being uncomfortable to get to that next level.”
“It builds us,” Ornelas added. “It builds character in us.”
Which has helped Capital navigate the troubled waters of missing out on the postseason. While the seniors called the offseason challenging, they added that it was wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle.
The Lady Jaguars’ growth continued through summer camps, as they more than held their own against other Northern teams. Salazar said Capital won its fair share of scrimmages against his team, and that sets up an intriguing rivalry for supremacy in 2-5A between the two programs.
Salazar freely admits a kinship with Vargas and the Lady Jaguars, because they remind him of what he has built at Española.
“They are one of the teams we have gotten along with,” Salazar said. “We’ve done our ‘Dig Pink’ [matches that raise money for breast cancer awareness] with them. They are the same type of school and we have that kindred spirit with them. I have a lot of respect for Max and what they are doing.”
The respect might be mutual, but the Lady Jaguars feel they let a great moment slip away. They are determined to make sure they capitalize on a second chance.
“We’re ready to take it all,” Garcia said.
That would be a better ending for this storybook than last year’s yarn.