No fans allowed at state volleyball finals this season
The show will go on for the state volleyball tournament — but not with fans in attendance.
With championship matches for all five classifications scheduled for Thursday and Friday in The Pit, Bernalillo County’s yellow status under the state’s health restrictions for COVID-19 means fans will not be allowed inside.
After early exits by Mora and Los Alamos in the opening round of the classification draws earlier this week, coupled with a straight-sets loss by
St. Michael’s in Wednesday’s Class 3A semifinals in Albuquerque against Sandia Prep, only one Santa Fe-area team remains in the brackets.
That would be Santa Fe High, the top overall seed in the 5A draw. The Demons (9-1) will host district rival Cleveland in Thursday night’s semifinals at Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium. Win or lose, it’s the last time the girls team will have their supporters there to cheer them on.
“That’s pretty sad, actually,” said Demons senior hitter Isabella Melton. “You always want your families and friends there to watch but, you know, if we get that far we’ll just have to do our best without them.”
The 5A final will be at 5 p.m. Saturday. In a cruel twist of irony, that same day an anticipated crowd of several hundred to a few thousand fans is expected to file into the University of New Mexico’s football stadium immediately across the street from The Pit for the Lobos’ annual spring scrimmage at noon, then do the same for the 4 p.m. high school football game between Las Cruces and Cleveland.
Counties classified as yellow can host outdoor sporting events with up to 25 percent of capacity. University Stadium can hold 39,224 people, meaning nearly 10,000 fans can access the facility on Saturday.
Sandia Prep sweeps St. Mike’s in three sets
Sandia Prep rolled to a 25-18, 25-22, 25-18 sweep of visiting St. Michael’s, ending the Horsemen’s season in the 3A semifinals Wednesday night.
Sixth-seeded St. Michael’s (7-4) jumped to early leads in the first two sets, holding a 4-2 advantage out of the gate before Sandia Prep, the tournament’s No. 2 overall seed, responded with six straight points. The Sundevils (12-1) built a 10-5 lead and pulled away after the Horsemen battled back to briefly tie things up.
The second game was an emotional blow for St. Michael’s. Alana Overton’s kill down the sideline gave the Horsemen a 12-9 lead, but Sandia Prep rattled off 10 straight points with Kirschtin Kinberger at the service line. She delivered a pair of aces during the run, the first of which put Prep in front, 13-12.
The Horsemen immediately answered with six straight points to tie it, 19-19, on an ace by Alex Stringer. The teams exchanged the next few points, and with the score knotted at 22, Sandia Prep closed things out with a block and two straight aces by Janelle Baca.
The Sundevils opened a 6-1 lead to start the third set, withstanding a few Horsemen runs before closing things out.
Girls soccer: Demons beat Cleveland 1-0
The improbable run of Santa Fe High was kicked into another gear Wednesday night with the Demons’ 1-0 win on the road against Cleveland.
With one game remaining in the regular season, they find themselves tantalizingly close to a share of the District 1-5A championship. The Demons (4-3 overall, 3-2 in 1-5A) host Capital on Saturday morning, while Cleveland (5-3, 3-2) closes against Rio Rancho (6-2-1, 4-1) the same day. With a win over the Jaguars, Santa Fe would need a Cleveland win of at least two goals against its crosstown rival to earn a tiebreaking edge in the event of a three-way tie.
Jazzi Gonzalez scored the only goal of Wednesday’s match, finding the back of the net on an unassisted score 23 minutes into the second half. The Demons’ defense was phenomenal, coach sj Miller said.
The unit, anchored by another outstanding effort from goalkeeper Molly Wissman, held the Storm scoreless for the first time all season. Wissman had 10 saves while senior Anya Muller played well at both ends of the pitch.
“This is such a dynamic group of players who are incredibly committed,” Miller said, adding that the idea of a potential district title run before the season seemed almost too hard to believe. “You never know what you’re coming into but everything we brought together — the players, the coaches, the chemistry — it has all been perfect.”
Anything less than a district title could prove costly to the Demons’ state playoff hopes. Ranked No. 15 in the latest MaxPreps poll for 5A, they would be considered a longshot to landing an at-large bid when the state tournament pairings are announced Saturday night. Six of the eight spots go to the district champions, leaving just two at-large spots remaining.
Miller plans to lobby hard for the Demons, pointing to a pair of losses to Rio Rancho and Cleveland earlier this season. Each was decided by a penalty kick.
“This could be a numbers game, and we have no control over that,” Miller said. “We’re going to document those losses because, as you know, losing on PKs is different than losing 3-0.”
Boys soccer: Demons fall 5-1 to Cleveland
An early goal and a 1-0 lead wasn’t nearly enough for Santa Fe High on Wednesday night at Ivan Head Stadium. Visiting Cleveland roared back with five unanswered goals to take a 5-1 victory, dropping the Demons to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in District 1-5A.
Kiran Smelser broke the ice with his goal off a penalty kick, the result of teammate Jack Joseph making a quality run from the right flank, beating his defender before being taken down.
Cleveland tied it about 18 minutes later, putting home a rebound in the box. Demons coach Chris Eadie said poor marking on a corner kick just before the half gave the Storm the lead, one they would not relinquish.
“Proud of the boys for battling hard all night and never giving up,” Eadie said. “We created three to four quality chances in the last 20 minutes, but bad luck and some incredible saves by the opposing keeper kept the score unchanged.”
It was senior night as the Demons honored co-captains Smelser and Jorge Lozano, plus four others.