Pojoaque beats Valencia in 4 games

Pojoaque Valley continues to show it’s not the same volleyball program from last year.

It was another balanced performance for the Elkettes, except for one area, but it was enough to help them beat Valencia 23-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-10 in a nondistrict match in Ben Luján Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

Ashten Martinez, Camille Cordova and Espy Torres combined for 31 kills, with Cordova leading the way with 13. Adrianna Quintana dished out 34 assists while collecting 10 digs, but Alyssa Rodriguez stole the show with her defense and serving.

Rodriguez had 48 digs on the night, and she had six aces from the service line. She also served 17 straight points in Game 4 to ease head coach and father Joe Rodriguez’s mind about a potential fifth game.

“That fourth game was nice and easy after that,” Joe Rodriguez said. “I think she had two errors in the first game, but she served really well [in Game 4].”

The service errors hinted at the only area Joe Rodriguez was disappointed with: serving. Pojoaque had nine service errors, including three in the opening game that the Lady Jaguars (2-4) took.

He added that Valencia’s defense kept Pojoaque off-balanced at times.

“It took us about 2½ games to change our attack,” Joe Rodriguez said. “They were getting deflections and their defense was getting to spots.”

Pojoaque (3-1) heads to the Tournament of Champions for pool play at Capital on Friday.

ESPAÑOLA VALLEY 3, BELEN 0

Speaking of missed serves, Lady Sundevils head coach Damon Salazar said his team missed too many, which made its 25-20, 25-23, 25-14 win over the Lady Eagles in Edward Medina Gymnasium closer than it should have been.

Despite serving 15 aces, Española (2-1) also had 16 service errors.

“Our serving is good, but we’re just missing too many,” Salazar said.

Otherwise, the Lady Sundevils played well. Dulce Maldonado had 14 kills and a pair of aces, while Chloe Fell had 10 kills and three aces.

Isabel Sena led the ace brigade with five, to go with 12 digs.

BOYS SOCCER MONTE DEL SOL 3, EAST MOUNTAIN 0

The Dragons led 1-0 after a half and added two more goals to beat the Timberwolves in Sandia Park. Monte del Sol improved to 1-0-1.

GIRLS SOCCER LOS ALAMOS 5, ST. MICHAEL’S 1

The Lady Horsemen got the test they were looking for, and the Lady Hilltoppers controlled the second half with three goals to pad a 2-1 halftime lead at Sullivan Field.

Claire Lee scored a goal late in the first half to tie it at 1-all, but Los Alamos (3-1) responded in kind just before the half ended.

St. Michael’s (5-1-1) plays host to Portales at 4 p.m. Friday.