VolleyBash a success, Rio teams show resilience

RIO RANCHO (Sept. 28, 2024) — The Cleveland Storm stepped onto the polished court of the Rio Rancho gymnasium, ready to meet the Albuquerque High Bulldogs in the Gold Bracket Championship. Earlier in the day, the Rio Rancho Rams had fallen to the Centennial Hawks, 3-1, to finish in fourth place in the Gold Bracket. The Storm battled their familiar opponent with a chip on their shoulder and won both Gold Bracket games, finishing in first place.

The final Gold Bracket standings were: No. 1 Cleveland, No. 2 Albuquerque High, No. 3 Centennial, No. 4 Rio Rancho.

The Rio Rancho High School gymnasium wasn’t where either the Rams or the Storm were hoping to end up on the second day of the 2024 VolleyBash tournament. A disappointing day of pool play on Friday had both teams knocked out of the top-tier Championship Bracket and relegated to the second-tier Gold Bracket. (There were also third- and forth-tiers called, “Silver” and “Bronze” respectively.) The Championship Bracket matches were happening at Cleveland High School at the same time.

“I know both programs wanted to play in the Championship Bracket but played in the Gold Bracket instead,” said RRPS executive director of athletics Todd Resch. “This speaks to the level of competition at this tournament.”

Despite the previous day’s disappointment, both squads came out swinging and gave it their all on the final day, Resch told the Observer.

“What I was most impressed with was how both teams played on Saturday,” he said. “Knowing they had not accomplished the goal of reaching the Championship Bracket, both teams played hard and (they each played as a team). That is the mark of a champion — that both teams remained competitive despite not playing where they had hoped.”

The CHS Storm’s VolleyBash 2024 record was 5-3. Their season record is to 10-2. They will get a chance to face Centennial once again, this time on the Storm home court, at 1 p.m. Oct. 5.

The RRHS Rams’ VolleyBash 2024 record was 0-8. Their season record is 7-4. Coach Toby Manzanares will hope to boost his team’s spirits with a trip south this week. On Oct. 4, the Rams face Organ Mountain in Las Cruces. On Oct. 5, they travel across town to face Las Cruces before heading back north.

On the whole, the VolleyBash was a huge success, said Resch.

“The event was great, as always,” he said. “The volleyball programs at RRPS attract the best teams in the state for a competitive weekend of high-quality volleyball. The event was fantastic, truly a celebration of the sport.”

La Cueva, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Los Lunas and other top-ranked teams from around the state were in attendance at the annual event, which is hosted by RRPS.

Las Cruces wins VolleyBash

RIO RANCHO — Las Cruces (10-0), last year’s 5A state champ, remained perfect on this 2024 prep volleyball season, defeating No. 3-ranked La Cueva in four sets in the championship match of the Rio Rancho VolleyBash event at Cleveland High.

The scores were 25-22, 18-25, 25-21, 25-23.

“It was a fun match. It was a fun match to watch,” longtime Las Cruces coach Keith Leupold told the Albuquerque Journal.

After two rounds of pool play Friday, the final four of the Championship Bracket were Las Cruces, St. Pius, La Cueva and Los Lunas.

The Bears defeated Los Lunas earlier in the day on Sept. 28, joining Las Cruces in the final.

La Cueva didn’t fare any better than 5A’s second-ranked Cleveland or fourth-ranked Los Lunas (Las Cruces beat both at its own tournament two weeks ago), or the best in 4A, St. Pius. Las Cruces will play two more ranked teams from the metro area, Albuquerque High and Rio Rancho, next week.

“We’re competitive. We’re where we want to be,” Leupold said. “We think we have a team that can compete for a state championship and this weekend we came out and showed that.”

— James Yodice, Albuquerque Journal