Lady Horsemen outlast Española Valley

The unofficial mascot for the St. Michael’s volleyball team this season might as well be a tortoise.

Slow and steady won the day again for the Lady Horsemen, as they slowed down the tempo against Española Valley to record a 28-26, 25-27, 25-21, 25-20 win in the Lady Sundevils’ season opener in Edward Medina Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

Once again, St. Michael’s (2-0) rallied from a 20-16 deficit in the opening game to take it, and it seemed to set the tone for the rest of the night. Española rallied in Game 2, as Meranda Romero served seven straight points to erase a 23-17 St. Michael’s lead.

“St. Michael’s is good,” Española head coach Damon Salazar said. “They kept the ball up [in the air] and in. They let us make mistakes, and they were good at that. They just out-defensed us.”

That was definitely clear at the net. Lady Sundevils outside hitters Chloe Fell and Dulce Maldonado had 16 and 11 kills, respectively, but the middle hitters struggled to contribute. Romero had 50 digs from the back row.

“When we got some tempo, we did well,” Salazar said. “When we were playing high, it was because the setters were having a little bit of an issue. We struggled to put the ball down.”

Española plays Albuquerque Hope Christian at home Friday, while St. Michael’s takes its show to the Moriarty Invitational starting Saturday.

SANTA FE INDIAN SCHOOL 3, TAOS 1

Opening-night jitters almost cost the Lady Braves Game 1 against the Lady Tigers in the Pueblo Pavilion, but they got their hitting attack on track to take it 25-23 and went on to a 25-23, 25-18, 7-25, 25-15 nondistrict win.

Actually, it was junior Leanna Lewis who became the Lady Braves’ hitting attack. She had 12 kills and most of them game in the first two games.

“We started being aggressive and started giving the ball to Leanna, and she started to put the ball down,” SFIS head coach Brian Gurule said. “She was the MVP tonight. They couldn’t stop her in Games 1 and 2.”

Teya Ruben added nine kills, and she dished out 12 assists. Marlena Yazzie had a team-high 18 assists and served five aces.

Taos fell to 0-3 on the season.