Santa Fe High volleyball loses in five sets in District 2-6A opener against visiting Albuquerque Sandia Tuesday night

St. Michael’s swept at home by Las Vegas Robertson in 4-5A. In boy’s District 2-1A/4A soccer, St. Michael’s blanks visiting Questa, 6-0, for its third straight shutout

By ARNIE LESHIN, Santa Fe Today

Santa Fe High’s volleyball team began District 2-6A play Tuesday night against visiting Albuquerque Sandia and battled before falling in five sets.

“We lost our serve receive nerve in sets 2 and 3,” said Demonettes’ head coach Sam Estrada, “and then regained it in the 4th set, which led to good hitting by our outsides. Good serving kept Sandia out of system, which took some pressure off our defense.”

There was bad and there was good as Santa Fe High dropped to 6-5 overall and the Matadors advanced to 5-4 in its district opener.

“We really played well in the first set,” Estrada said, “and I think it kind of shocked (Sandia) them. “They didn’t know what to expect, but in the next set, all of a sudden we couldn’t pass the ball. They took us out of our offense too easily.”

The Demonettes were a tight first set at 26-24, but were beaten handily, 25-9, in the second set. Then they dropped the third set, 25-15, before coming, away in set four, 25-22, to bring on the deciding set that went to the visitors 15-6.

And that’s what Estrada saw, two good sets and three bad ones. He felt his team was inconsistent, but kept it close against a team that had won its first four matches via sweeps, but then lost its next four, two to Rio Rancho High and Rio Rancho Cleveland whom it swept in the previous matches.

“When they were on the net,” Estrada said of the Matadors, “they were crushing the ball. It was good that we came back to win the fourth set, but in the deciding one, they scored the first two points and we could never recover after that. Little mistakes just seal your fate.”

For Santa Fe High, senior Yasbella Trujillo came away with 25 assists, sophomore Salome Romp had 14 kills, two more than senior Adonica Baca, and Romp added a pair of solo blocks.

Senior Adriana Catanach contributed 17 digs, Baca picked up 13, Trujillo 10, and junior Alyssa Sandoval seven.

The Demonettes’ next match is Saturday afternoon at 6A Albuquerque La Cueva. Their district includes Sandia, Albuquerque schools Eldorado and Manzano, and Clovis.

In a District 2-4A, St. Michael’s dropped a 3-0 match against visiting Las Vegas Robertson, which holds down the top spot in the district, and is 9-1 overall. The Lady Horsemen are 0-1 in district and 9-4 overall.

At Albuquerque Sandia Prep, the two-time defending 4A champion swept past Santa Fe Indian School, 3-0, in the District 5 opener. Braves’ head coach Brian Gurule said that 40 errors didn’t help his team as it dropped to 6-5 overall.

In boy’s soccer, St. Michael’s turned in a 6-0 triumph over visiting Questa in 2-1A/4A. Senior Wesley Reynolds scored twice and sophomores Wesley Graham, Esteban Rigales, Berkeley Reynolds and Santiago Lucero scored a goal each as the Horsemen upped their overall record to 5-4-2 and 2-1 in district.

It was the third straight shutout for head coach Mike Feldewert’s team. He said the defense was led by senior Wyatt Hoyle, who added that Hoyle has been one of the keys to our defense coming together.