Freshmen give SFIS much-needed boost
Lady Braves face Lady Horsemen in quarterfinals; St. Mike’s swept last meeting
RIO RANCHO — The fire was lacking early, so it was up to the freshmen to reignite Santa Fe Indian School in the first round of the Class 4A State Volleyball Tournament on Thursday night.
Sydnie Pino and Larissa Scott helped the sixth-seeded Lady Braves pull off a 30-28, 25-16, 25-15 sweep of No. 12 Cobre in the Santa Ana Star Center.
The victory sends SFIS (16-7) into the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. Friday against St. Michael’s (16-6), which earned a bye after winning Pool D earlier on Thursday.
No. 2 Las Vegas Robertson (19-2) also earned a first-round bye. The Lady Cardinals will play No. 8 Silver (14-8), also at 3 p.m. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals at 8:15 p.m.
The compact schedule leaves no rest for the weary, though the Lady Braves survived against the Indians (11-7) with what appeared to be only minor leg injuries to junior Analisa Pino and senior Teya Ruben.
Junior Leanna Lewis paced SFIS with 16 kills, while senior Sierra Shoals added 15 kills and senior Danielle Jackson chipped in another 11. Junior Myra Begay racked up 11 digs and junior Marlena Yazzie had 48 assists and five aces.
“Our speed, our serving was really tough,” SFIS head coach Brian Gurule said. “But we were not as aggressive as we should be. We were just playing volley to volley and that’s not what we’re supposed to be doing.”
Part of that could have been the usual opening match jitters at state.
“It could be, because we have a lot of first timers, [but] we’ve just got to play,” Gurule said. “[Friday] we’ve got St. Mike’s, so we’ve got to come out and play.”
The first set was a back-and-forth affair. SFIS built a 10-5 lead, only to see it disappear and Cobre run out to a 19-16 advantage. The Braves chipped away, finally tying the match at 24-24 when Indians senior Amari Jacquez hit a shot into the net.
Things stayed tight as Cobre had set point three times, only to fail to close it out each time. SFIS went back up 29-28 and Jackson’s big block kill finished the set in the Indians’ favor.
The play of the two freshmen “lit a fire under our team” in the first set, Gurule said, as neither showed any signs of nerves on the court.
“They’re just playing,” Gurule said. “It’s exciting to see and I’m very proud of them. Sydnie and Larissa really stepped up. They were passing well, they were moving the ball well.”
The second set saw Cobre in control early, eventually building to a 14-11 lead. From there, however, SFIS took complete control. The Lady Braves
went on a 12-0 run and would never trail again in the match.
In the third set, the Indians managed to hold serve only five times, and never for more than back-to-back points.
The Lady Braves went on an 8-2 run midway through the set to build a 17-8 lead and ended up cruising to victory.
Now comes a rematch, as St. Michael’s swept aside SFIS back on Sept. 16.
The Lady Braves will look to reverse their previous fortunes Friday.
“It’s going to be intense,” Gurule said. “They’re going to be big. They’re going to be pounding the ball. They’re solid on defense. They’re scrappy and they serve well. We’ve just got to play our ball.”