Cleveland front row dominates, sweep Rams in home rivalry meeting

RIO RANCHO — It was the first meeting of the year between Cleveland and Rio Rancho on the volleyball court, but for the Storm front row, it was just another day at the office.

On Tuesday night, Cleveland volleyball notched its sixth win in a row with a 3-0 sweep over the Rams at home (25-15, 25-13, 25-7).

“I thought we played really great team volleyball,” Storm head coach Charity Gomez said. “We have been trying to get our middles more active; both Lela Del Angel and Aaliyah Simpson had nice nights.”

Del Angel, Simpson and Azylnn Tittmann created quite the trio up at the net, combining for 27 of the team’s 37 kills. Simpson was awarded player of the game honors for her eight-kill night, averaging 2.7 kills a set, her highest average in a match since early September.

Simpson’s fellow middle blocker, freshman Del Angel, posted five kills and four blocks to bounce back after a quiet night against Volcano Vista last week. The young talent now holds 45 blocks on the year, leading the Storm in that column.

Gomez’s plan to get the middles involved worked to perfection, giving a handful for Rio Rancho’s blockers to deal with. But that doesn’t mean the Storm lost their old ways, including the reliable outsider hitter Azylnn Tittmann.

The future Boise State Bronco recorded 14 kills in the victory, her fifth straight game with double-digit kills. Tittmann’s 256 kills are good for top 10 in the state, on pace to cross the 300 mark for the first time in her high school career.

Season highs and double-digit figures — did everything go Cleveland’s way?

Not necessarily. Self-inflicted wounds and errors peeked out behind the Storm’s dominant attack, including slip-ups that made the opening set competitive and almost down to the wire before a Cleveland run.

Rio Rancho’s back row put together a valiant effort to try to dig out the Cleveland kills, with seniors Jacey Mader and Shayla Radosevich carrying the workload on the attack.

A back-and-forth opening set gave the Rams hope, but Cleveland shut down that dream pretty quickly in sets two and three, outscoring Rio Rancho 50-20.

Tuesday’s sweep also gives the Storm three straight-set victories in a row, dropping only one set so far in five district matches.

Now, Cleveland will look to keep storming on through District 5A-1, with five matches left in the regular season. For Rio, they will have time to prepare before these teams meet again on Nov. 6, this time at Rio Rancho High School.