Lady Horsemen Rally to Win Volleyball City Championship

Nothing on the line except volleyball bragging rights brought a packed house Thursday night at Perez-Shelley as St. Michael’s turned back Santa Fe High in 4 sets to also win the city championship

The teams didn’t disappoint in the exciting match between the Siringo Road neighbors

By Arnie Leshin, Santa Fe Today

There was nothing to decide anything, only bragging rights that echoed on Siringo Road. No regular-season tournament, No district match, no state tournament match, no revenge on the mind of either school, and just another high school volleyball match.

Except when Santa Fe High and St. Michael’s meet-up on the court, as in Thursday night’s clash of neighboring schools, it’s more than that. It played to a full house at Perez-Shelley gymnasium, the place was packed while the junior varsities were still playing, and the teams didn’t disappoint.

With the noisy, pumped-up turnout that filled almost every seat, it was a welcome sight to finally see these schools meeting up this season. They did not face each other in the recent Tournament at Champions at Santa Fe High, and it was drama at its best from the time the teams took the court to when the ending came after one hour and 50 minutes.

The end result came in an exciting fourth set where the Lady Horsemen rallied to win 25-21, 15-25, 25-15, 25-22. It brought them the unofficial city championship following this victory and the ones over Santa Fe Indian School and Capital High.

Down 2 sets to one, the Demonettes appeared to be on their way to even things and force a deciding fifth set. They led from the start, but never had more than a 6-point lead, and that was at 8-2. But the lead was holding up even though there were three ties and seven one-point leads.

When St. Michael’s forced a 21-all tie and then took its first lead at 22-21, Santa Fe High head coach Sam Estrada called a quick time out. But the home side was on a roll and the visitors had no answer.

Freshman Lily Barker, all of 6-feet, then went one, two, three with devastating kills and the Lady Horsemen stole a 25-21 set. It was nothing new, for Barker had been doing that the entire match.

“She had a heck of a match,” said first-year head coach Valerie Sandoval. “She made some big points for us and played bigger than her size. It was Lily and (Mikayla) Bohlman who played so strong at the net. That was the biggest advantage for us.”

While Sandoval was praising her players, Barker appeared surprised to be announced as the Player of the Game. It was like, “Who me.”

Yes, you, and even your brother Lincoln, a senior on the football team, was too busy cheering to be concerned with the elbow injury he suffered early in the season. He’s still sidelined and it’s a day-to-day situation, but he sure was painless when he gave his sister a big hug.

Young Lily has been playing volleyball since the age of 7, and she believes she’s still growing. With her youth, height and talent, she could be looking at a bright future, and for the Lady Horsemen she still has three more seasons after this one.

The crowd was loud when the match began at 7:03, and this continued until the final point. In set one, St. Michael’s broke away from a pair of ties and a 17-16 lead to remain in front and win 25-21 on a kill from Bohlman, a 5-10 junior, in 25 thrilling minutes.

But Santa Fe High responded in the second set. It went in front from the start, pushed the lead to 7-1 and maintained it. St. Michael’s never threatened and it was the Demonettes winning 25-15 in 20 minutes time.

In set three, it was the Lady Horsemen taking over. It was close early on, with St. Michael’s up 9-8 and then tied at 9-9. But when it eased in front 10-9, it was its set to win. The advantage came to 17-10 and Santa Fe High never got closer than 18-13, as this time, it was the Lady Horsemen getting the 25-15 triumph in a set that also went 20 minutes.

The fourth set went the longest, 30 minutes. Needing to force a fifth set, the lead belonged to the Demonettes from the initial point, with their smallest margin coming at 13-12. But after St. Michael’s trailed for the last time, at 21-20, Barker took over after a smash by junior teammate setter Miquela Martinez bounced off two Demonettes.

Then Barker put away the last five points with four kills and a block. Her final shot was a bolt that brought the celebration. In all, Barker came up with 18 kills and half of her team’s 22 blocks.

Bohlman added nine kills and four blocks, and the 5-7 Martinez was credited with 11 assists and 13 digs. Then there was the head coach’s daughter, 5-2 senior Alyssa Pincheira-Sandoval, contributing 16 digs to go with three aces.

There was also senior Sierra Moya hitting seven kills and junior Darian Ortiz credited with 23 assists. Plus the many blocks provided by their team worked to their advantage.

“Too many hitting errors (24) to win a match,” said Estrada. “Back row suffered from lack of confidence at crucial times in set three.”

While the lady Horsemen improved to 8-3 overall and begins District 2-4A play at home Tuesday against Las Vegas Robertson, Santa Fe High takes a 6-4 overall mark onto the court in its District 2-6A opener at home Tuesday versus Albuquerque Sandia.

The Demonettes had plenty of supporters and played well as a team. But as Estrada said prior to the match, St. Michael’s has a little more size than us. Despite this, 5-7 sophomore Salome Romp did her part with 23, kicks, 3 ace serves and 14 digs, and 5-6 senior Adonica Baca added 11 kills, 4 ace serves and 20 digs.

Then there was senior setter Ysabella Trujillo turning in 36 assists and 10 digs, senior Viviana Ortega with five kills and an ace, and senior Adriana Catanach with 19 digs.

“It was no doubt our biggest crowd here this season,” said Sandoval, “and I thought both teams played well under pressure.”