Rolling St. Michael’s trusts the process
The St. Michael’s Lady Horsemen sent a message to the rest of Class 3A on Thursday night. Remember us?
The Las Vegas Robertson Lady Cardinals drew much of the attention in the classification because of their on-court performance and their off-the-court drama. They rolled into Santa Fe as the unquestioned district leaders and the hopes of grabbing No. 1 seed in the upcoming Class 3A State Tournament, but they also carried the baggage of dealing with the absence of head coach Stacy Fulgenzi after she was placed on leave on Monday by Las Vegas City Schools district as it investigates an undisclosed “misconduct” issue.
In front of about 700 people in an energized Perez-Shelley Gymnasium, St. Michael’s displayed poise in tough situations and a more varied offensive attack that had the Lady Cardinals on their heels, and it produced a 16-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-21 win as well as a tie atop the 2-3A standings between the two programs. It also sets them on a collision course for yet another playoff to determine the top seed in the district tournament for the third straight year.
Momentum is building for the Lady Horsemen (13-6 overall, 8-1 in 2-3A), who have won eight of their last nine matches, and head coach Valerie Sandoval said it was as simple as stealing a slogan from the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.
“I said, ‘You gotta trust the process,’ ” Sandoval said. “That’s the motto for this year, because we knew, and I knew, that we were going to lose a few games early on. It’s whole new team, and we have to trust the process that we are going to peak at the right time.”
And the right time came late in Game 2. Robertson (14-4, 7-1) appeared to be in control, as a varied and aggressive offensive attack built a 16-11 lead on Tessa Ortiz’s kill off the Lady Horsemen
block. It was around this time that St. Michael’s senior libero Alexa Griego brought words of wisdom that resonated with the group.
“She told us all of our words that we each chose to encourage us throughout the season,” junior middle hitter Amber Marbourg said. “She just sat us down and said, ‘Your word is tenacity, just keep it up this entire game. We got this for the rest of this game.’”
Just like that, St. Michael’s became the aggressors. Rhegan Glidewell had a pair of kills and junior middle hitter Lily Barker recorded three during a 7-2 spurt that tied the score at 18-all. The two teams exchanged points until the score hit 23-all, and Barker, the All-State player, slipped a tip around the Lady Cardinals block, then hammered home a kill to give the Lady Horsemen Game 2.
From there, the confidence on the St. Michael’s grew. Marbourg finished with 11 kills, while Barker led the way with 19 as the Lady
Horsemen had four players reach double figures in the category. It was the offensive balance that was missing through the first half of the season, but is steadily building through October.
“Every single day before practice, coach would tell us, ‘This is the practice that’s going to change the next game,’” Marbourg said. “‘Focus right now, and it will help you in the future.’ I feel like the encouragement from the coaches has really helped us.”
Meanwhile, Robertson seemed to crumble under the weight all the drama that built during the week, and not even the appearance of Fulgenzi in the stands could alleviate that. The Lady Cardinals had 11 missed serves on the night and countless other hits that sailed wide.
“They get in their own heads and shut themselves down,” Robertson assistant coach Fran Jenkins said. “They tried to battle back and tried to stay focused. It was just the errors that got to us.”
“I said, ‘You gotta trust the process.’ That’s the motto for this year, because we knew, and I knew, that we were going to lose a few games early on. It’s whole new team, and we have to trust the process that we are going to peak at the right time.” St. Michael’s head coach Valerie Sandoval