Prep volleyball: Storm and Rams close out strong seasons

2024 NMAA Volleyball State Championship

Nov 16, 2024

RIO RANCHO — The final thud of the last ball on the last point of the last set of the last match of Cleveland’s season echoed through the Rio Rancho Event Center (RREC) Saturday evening. It was immediately followed by a roar of celebration from the Las Cruces Bulldawgs bench as they took down the Storm 3-1 in the semifinal round of the NMAA 5A Volleyball State Championship.

Las Cruces would go on to defeat the La Cueva Bears 3-0 and lift the championship trophy, which was presented at RREC directly after the matches Saturday night.

And that’s a wrap for the 2024 volleyball season.

The Storm entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed behind the Bulldawgs at No. 1. The high seed earned them a first-match bye. On Day 1, CHS played hometown frenemies of Rio Rancho High School and defeated the Rams 3-0.

The victory got the Storm another first-match bye on Day 2. However, in their evening match, they fell to the No. 3 seed La Cueva Bears, making their path to the trophy slightly more difficult. The loss meant they would need to play an early match on Day 3 for a chance to face Las Cruces in the semifinals.

CHS took on Cibola for the opening match on Day 3 and defeated them 3-1. Despite a rocky third set, the Storm finished the match strong and turned their sights to the vaunted Bulldawgs.

The semifinal match between the No. 1 Bulldawgs and the No. 2 Storm was every bit the slobberknocker that was advertised. In the end, Las Cruces came away with the 3-1 win and a berth in the championship match.

Storm powerhouses Ceci Vance, Emma Wild and Kelsey Hefner used all of their tricks and were simply the victims of some bad luck and an overwhelming Bulldawg frontline, which includes 6-foot-1-inch junior Addison Massey and her nearly unstoppable kill shot.

“We battled. It was a little unfortunate against La Cueva. I thought it would go a little differently,” said Storm head coach Charity Gomez. “[Against Las Cruces], I think we came out and played a really great game. [It was a] rough call in that set where we were ahead, but I thought we just battled. You can’t ask for a better season.”

The standouts for the Storm in the final match, however, were the young talents who came off the bench.

Freshmen Jaelyn Nieto and Raquel Guevara will form a nice base behind the talented core of Azlynn Tittmann, Aaliyah Simpson and Molly Maurer next season.

“They bring it,” Gomez said of her young talent. “We got a couple of kids in our group who bring it defensively, and that’s what we needed. It was really nice to see.”

The Storm finish the 2024 season with a 23-4 record, good for first place in district 5A-1.

“When you have to come in and be with someone everyday, you just feel fortunate when you enjoy doing it — when you get excited going to practice, get excited going to matches. You don’t always get that,” said Gomez. “I feel super fortunate that I was able to have this season with this group of girls. I wish it had gone differently, but we had a great, great year.”

The Rio Rancho Rams also put up a strong fight but were unable to secure a spot in the Day 3 knockout rounds after taking two defeats in the double-elimination opening rounds on Nov. 14-15 (3-0 to Cleveland, and 3-2 to Santa Fe.)

Ram head coach Toby Manzanares and his squad started with a big upset win over district rivals, the Cibola Cougars.

Unfortunately, they had to follow their best performance of the year with a match against the aforementioned Cleveland Storm, who defeated them 3-0. Despite the defeat, the Rams nearly stole the first set with overwhelming defense from libero Reece Cave and a power boost at the net from Alyssa Dominguez and Jacey Mader.

Against the Storm, the size and power disparity proved too much for the Rams, and the defeat forced them into a four-match fight for their tournament lives.

The Rams entered Day 2 with a 1-1 tournament record. They started by soundly defeating the No. 8 seed Centennial Hawks in another upset for the under-seeded Rams.

Riding high on their two underdog wins, the Rams rolled through the first two sets against Santa Fe. But after an exhausting gauntlet of intense matches, the rigorous schedule finally caught up to them, and the Rams lost the final three sets and lost 3-2 to the Demons.

The Rams closed out their 2024 season with a 16-11 record. They were third in district 5A-1.

2024 NMAA Volleyball State Tournament

Day 1 – Nov. 14, 2024

RIO RANCHO 3, CIBOLA 1 (25-23, 25-19, 19-25, 25-19)

CLEVELAND 3, RIO RANCHO 0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-20)

Day 2 – Nov. 15, 2024

RIO RANCHO 3, CENTENNIAL 1 (25-20, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18)

SANTA FE 3, RIO RANCHO 2 (16-25, 22-25, 25-11, 25-20, 15-11)

LA CUEVA 3, CLEVELAND 1 (20-25, 25-11, 25-19, 25-17)

Day 3 – Nov. 16, 2024

CLEVELAND 3, CIBOLA 1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 25-17)

LAS CRUCES 3, CLEVELAND 1 (25-18, 25-19, 23-25, 25-14)

Championship Game - Nov. 16, 2024

LAS CRUCES 3, LA CUEVA 0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-11)