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Thursday, September 23, 2004

Estancia Can't Bear to Be Without Destenii

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
    Maybe it's just a matter of Destenii.
    Estancia High School— with Lady Bears co-captain Destenii Trujillo back in the lineup— mauled Mountainair's Mustangs 3-0 in the championship match of the eight-team Bean Valley Conference Volleyball Tournament on Saturday.
    At Estancia's gym, the Bears defeated Mountainair 25-4, 25-17 and 25-22.
    "It's like we're way happy," said Trujillo, who had been out injured when the Mustangs beat Estancia 3-2 on Sept. 4. "It's a lot of fun this year. I think we'll go farther at state. We have more confidence."
    Estancia also is off to a smokin' start in District 8-2A competition. The Bears defeated Hope Christian, the defending state champion, 3-0 on Tuesday at Estancia.
    Estancia muzzled the Huskies 25-14, 25-23, 25-16.
    "I did think that they might be a little more competitive," Bears coach Janice Barela said. "But they're a very good team at passing. It was a closer game than the score showed. There were a lot of long rallies."
    The Bears are now 8-2 overall and 1-0 in district.
    Although the 5-foot, 10-inch Trujillo, a senior middle blocker, was one of three Estancia players named to the BVC all-tournament team, she wasn't an overwhelmingly dominant force. Still, without her, the Bears just seemed to be missing something.
    "We have our old rotation back," said Ashton Coburn, the Bears' senior lead captain. "We're together now."
    Coburn and her junior teammate, Tara Cooper, were Estancia's other all-tournament selections. Mountainair's Dawn Luna and Chanel Flores also were picked for the honor.
    With Cooper serving, Estancia jumped to a 14-0 advantage in the first game. The 5-foot, 3-inch outside hitter had five aces during her initial serve.
    "We always do that, (start out slow)," said Luna, a 5-6 senior setter. "We get so nervous in the locker room (before the game). It's just because they're our rivals."
    Estancia earned a 23-16 lead in the second game under the service leadership of senior co-captain Dezlyn Chacon. Cooper got the winning point after a long rally, highlighted by seemingly impossible digs from both teams.
    "We just didn't want to lose," Cooper said. "We decided we had to win this."
    In the third game, the 'Stangs took a 5-3 lead after Flores had four straight kills. Later, Estancia trailed 22-15.
    But then during the steady serve of junior Erica Smythe, the Bears got nine straight points for the title.
    Estancia's closing plays included a Smythe ace, two Cooper kills, a Kaycee Riley slam dunk and a Trujillo-Riley double block.
    "We just made too many mistakes," Mountainair coach Sheldon Roberts said. "You've got to tip your hat to them, and then just go after them the next time."
    Estancia plays two district matches in the coming week. Sandia Prep, the 2003 state runner-up, visits today. On Tuesday,, the Bears travel to Menaul.
    MORIARTY
    The Lady Pintos (6-3) took second place in the gold bracket of the 16-team Tournament of Champions hosted by Santa Fe High last weekend.
    Moriarty swept Los Alamos 3-0 before downing Santa Fe Capital 3-1 in the semifinals. The Pintos finally succumbed to West Las Vegas 3-1 in the title match.
    "I was pretty pleased," said Moriarty coach Kim Bell. "We were fifth last year."
    Bell said Leah Lovato was named to the all-tourney team.
    The Pintos play Portales in a cross-class road match in Roosevelt County today.
    MANZANO
    The Lady Monarchs are distinguishable from many of their peers by their notable esprit de corps.
    "I think we're just really good friends," said Manzano sophomore Natalie Arvizu, who lives in the Yrisarri area.
    However, Manzano (3-7) has struggled in the early games of recent matches.
    At the city tournament last week, the squad qualified for the 8-team gold bracket, but then lost to Cibola 3-0 and St. Pius 3-1.
    The Monarchs ultimately took seventh with a three-game sweep of Sandia Prep.
    On Tuesday, Manzano dropped its first District 2-5A match at home to Santa Fe High. The Demons won 25-22, 25-14, 29-27.
    "They were nervous," Manzano coach Carol Barnitz said. "I need to put more pressure on them in practice so that the matches are easier than the practice. I told them we had two-thirds of a great match (vs. Santa Fe)."
    The Monarchs have two district away games in the next week. They play at Highland on Friday and at Del Norte on Tuesday.