SFIS rebounds, reaches semifinal

Youth can be fun. Youth can be frustrating. On Friday, it proved to be a little bit of both for the Santa Fe Indian School volleyball team. After struggling through Pool A of the Tournament of Champions, the Lady Braves rebounded in the quarterfinals of the silver bracket in Capital’s Edward A. Ortiz Memorial Gymnasium with a 25-18, 25-21, 25-18 win to advance to the semifinal Saturday.

SFIS (3-1) started off slowly in pool play, relegating the team to third place and a spot in the silver bracket. The Lady Braves picked up their speed a little bit against the Bloomfield Lady Bobcats, but it wasn’t where head coach Brian Gurule wanted it to be for a team relying on sophomores and freshmen in key spots.

“We were in slow motion,” Gurule said. “We have to to pick up the intensity. We have to be faster and going with speed. Right now, we’re not. The girls are doing better, but we need to play faster.”

Despite that, SFIS got 15 kills from senior Camilla Lewis and 10 from her sister, Leanna Lewis. Senior Jaeleen Chalan added nine kills, while setter Marlena Yazzie handed out 25 assists. Sophomore Jamie Cruz-Sandoval and freshman Cameron Conners each had four kills.

POJOAQUE VALLEY 3, SANTA FE PREP 0

The Elkettes (5-1) might have taken fourth place in Pool D of the Tournament of Champions, but they played better than that in a 25-16, 25-6, 25-8 in silver bracket action in Capital’s Edward A. Ortiz Memorial Gymnasium.

Santa Fe Prep (1-3) struggled without sophomore setter India Cunningham.

“Our passing went into the chutes, as far as making it easier on our younger setters,” Prep head coach Kiran Bhakta said.