Santa Fe High beats Capital for 2nd place in district
Santa Fe High secures second place in district, makes first shot at state tournament since 2013 more likely
Courtney Brookover was rock steady Tuesday night. That is to say that coach Josie Adams felt like the junior setter for Santa Fe High was consistently energetic. Brookover had perhaps her best performance in a Demonettes uniform, recording 48 assists and three kills to lead Santa Fe High to a sweep of Capital, 25-20, 25-18, 25-9, in a District 5-5A match in Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium.
The win secured second place in the district for Santa Fe High, and means it will play host to the 5-5A semifinals next week. It also further cements the program’s chances at its first state tournament berth since 2013 and its first at the big-school level since 2004.
The Demonettes simply outperformed the Lady Jaguars in every facet of the game — that includes defense, which has long been a Capital trademark. But Brookover, the lone player with state tournament experience from her days at Desert Academy, was the glue to a strong passing game and a varied hitting attack. She played the entire match, which was a deviation from previous matches that saw her and sophomore Ivy St. Clair alternate games at the position.
“We’re preparing her for this moment,” said Adams, the first-year Demonettes head coach. “To get serious and be focused for our team and it worked.”
Brookover’s spirits were still sky-high after the match, as she bounded down the gymnasium stairs from the top level for her interview.
“Not only me personally, but my whole team wanted to take Capital,” Brookover said. “We really wanted to go to state and this was an important match.”
It was from the standpoint that if Santa Fe High lost, it gave both the Lady Jaguars and Albuquerque Manzano hopes of creating a tie for second place and putting a serious dent in the Demonettes’ postseason dreams. Capital, though, simply could not match Santa Fe High’s firepower at the net. The senior back row of Alyssa Sandoval, Taliyah Balladares and Tanisha Ortiz combined for 40 digs to neutralize the Lady Jaguars’ offensive attack at key moments.
That allowed Brookover to utilize a group of five hitters up at the net — six if
Santa Fe High’s Ainsley Reynolds-Smith, left, and Salome Romp try to block a spike from Capital’s Ethena Silva during the first game of the match.
you include Brookover. Game 1 set the tone for the match, as the Demonettes rallied behind their offense in wiping away a 12-11 Capital lead with a five-point spurt. Salome Romp had a pair of kills, while Ainsley Reynolds Smith had one and Brookover had a dump kill during the run.
When Capital rallied to tie the score at 19-all on Mikayla Baca’s ace, the Demonettes dialed up Romp again for a kill to break the tie. Then, sophomore Laila Bernardino followed with a tip kill for a 21-19 lead and Capital never recovered.
Lady Jaguars head coach Max Vargas said his team struggles at the net, in part because of inexperience and inconsistency out of his hitters but also because of injuries. Capital lost right-side hitter Janessa Rivera (broken arm) and outside hitter Deanza Booker (torn ACL) for the season at the Moriarty Invitational, taking away two seasoned frontrow players.
“We’ve worked hard to get on top of the ball, but it’s frustrating,” Vargas said. “We’ve been working hard to get our hitters to hit, but they’re just inconsistent right now. They’re getting better every game they play, though.”
That was just a sneak preview of Bernardino’s performance, as she finished with a team-high 14 kills. Seven of them came in Game 3, and four were during an 8-0 run that turned an 1-5 lead into a 19-5 advantage on her last kills during that run.
Bernardino has been a key component of Santa Fe High’s hitting attack, but said the action has slowed down for her mentally as she grew more accustomed to the speed of varsity play.
“At the beginning, you have all these nerves,” Bernardino said. “With all of this support that I’ve had, it is a lot easier for me to calm down.”
The same could be said for fellow sophomore Jorja “Joey” Chambers, who moved up from the junior varsity to play a more extensive role as a middle hitter when junior Ainsley ReynoldsSmith moves off the front row. Chambers had six kills, complementing a nine-kill effort by Reynolds-Smith as the two have beefed up the Demonettes’ play in the middle.
“[Bernardino and Chambers] are so good,” Adams said. “Those 10th graders are our future and they’re real powerful. And they’re fighters and great athletes and they’re here for the team. We just have a great 12-team dynamic where everybody is here for everybody else.”
On Tuesday, it was Brookover who was there for every pass, and set up every hit for the Demonettes.