Lady Braves give champs a brief scare

For a moment, Santa Fe Indian School had the look of giant killers.

The Lady Braves opened their District 5-4A volleyball match with a stunning Game 1 win over two-time reigning Class 4A state champion Albuquerque Sandia Prep on Friday night. However, the moment quickly faded away as the Lady Sundevils regained their focus and rolled to a 19-25, 25-9, 25-13, 25-16 win in the Pueblo Pavilion.

SFIS (11-6 overall, 3-2 in 5-4A) showed it was capable of playing with one of the top teams in the state, but Lady Braves head coach Brian Gurule said his team could not keep its composure.

“That first game, we really played our hearts out,” Gurule said. “We were the aggressor. We were serving tough. We were doing really well on servereceive.” And then? “In Games 2, 3 and 4, they were the aggressor, especially on their serve,” Gurule said. “They were serving out of their minds.”

Danielle Jackson, Leanna Lewis and Teya Ruben tied for the team-high in kills with seven, and Lewis had three blocks. Marlena Yazzie dished out 30 assists.

SFIS plays East Mountain in a 5-4A match at home on Oct. 17.

DESERT ACADEMY 3, PECOS 2

That 2-8 start to the season is paying off for the Lady Wildcats.

Desert Academy (5-8) improved to 2-0 in 3-3A play with a grueling 22-25, 25-15, 26-24, 20-25, 15-7 win in Larson Gymnasium on the New Mexico School for the Deaf campus.

The Lady Panthers could not stop the hitting duo of Natalie Nathanson and Michaela Glinsky, who combined for 53 kills. Nathanson had a team-high 29 and added 21 service points and five blocks. Glinsky had 24 kills, 13 service points, four blocks and 11 digs.

Setter Hailey Scarborough had 51 assists to lead an efficient offense.