Blue Griffins make Lady Braves strive for district tournament win

The Santa Fe Prep volleyball team played like it had nothing to lose.

So, it just might have given Santa Fe Indian School a blueprint for the rest of the District 2-3A tournament.

The Blue Griffins played with plenty of heart and hustle in making the Lady Braves work for a 25-17, 25-21, 25-15 win in the district quarterfinal in the Pueblo Pavilion on Wednesday. SFIS will head to Las Vegas to take on Robertson in a 2-3A semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Michael Marr Gymnasium.

Brian Gurule, SFIS head coach, couldn’t help but lather praise on Prep.

“They did a great job blocking and Daisy [Cunningham] and Raelyn [Gonzales] were hitting hard,” Gurule said. “We did a good job, but Prep played well. We just started swinging and served a lot better.”

That was the case in Game 1, as SFIS (16-5) scored the last eight points to break a 17-all tie as the Lady Braves started to serve better.

“When we were in system, we were keeping them off balance by hitting hard, roll shotting and tipping,” Blue Griffins head coach Kiran Bhakta said. “They just had that extra something at the end.”

Prep ended the regular season at 8-14 and will wait to see if it gets a spot in the Class 3A Tournament on Sunday.