Storm fall to Bears in five-set nail-biter

LA CUEVA 3, CLEVELAND 2

RIO RANCHO - Cleveland Storm volleyball lost at home on Tuesday night to the La Cueva Bears, 3-2 in an intense back-and-forth battle that came down to the last point of the fifth set.

The match started fast and didn't let up. Cleveland's Ceci Vance scored the first three points of the game on three straight kills. But penalties ultimately undid the Storm, and they lost the first set 25-21.

The second set seemed to be getting off to a bad start. Senior Storm star Emma Wild went out with an injury when the score was just 3-2 (Bears). With Wild limping off the court, Vance took the chance to rally her team, and the Storm went on to take set two, 27-25.

By the third set, the game was a full-on battle with plenty of contact at the net between Cleveland's Vance and Hefner, and La Cueva's middle hitter Sophie Diouf. The Bears pulled out the 25-21 victory.

The fourth set was where the tiredness seemed to show signs of peeking through. Both teams made mistakes early, but the Storm finally saved their night with a 27-25 set four win.

The final set (which is played to 15 points) was intense from the beginning but unfortunately it just wasn't Cleveland's night, and La Cueva won the final set 15-12 to walk away with the 3-2 victory.

“We had a couple of sets where we just had too many errors,” said head coach Charity Gomez after the game. “We’ve never passed like that before....It’s just something we are going to have clean up if we want to compete at the highest level.”

The Storm played with heart and, though it was a disappointing loss, it was an even match throughout and could easily have gone the other way, thanks to relentless attacking from Vance and Tittman.

Storm freshman Raquel Guevara also grabbed plenty of court time and made herself indispensable on defense.

For the Bears, senior Karyna Werley was fierce on the attack, with 22 of La Cueva’s 51 Kills, 13 Digs, along with an Ace and a Block.

Eighth grader Charlie Ferguson also made herself known for the Bears, grabbing five Kills, three Aces and 15 Digs, and most noticeably, 25 assists. Every time Ferguson set the ball, it seemed to be in the perfect place for a strike.

This match may be a championship preview with both squads boasting plenty of talent, both proud of their successful volleyball programs, and both suffering disappointing semi-final losses in the Metro Championship last year.

While it's still too early for accurateMaxPrep rankings (only teams with over three games are eligible) but both Cleveland and La Cueva look to be major contenders for the state championship this year.

A recent coach's poll by the Albuquerque Journal had Cleveland in 1st place and La Cueva in 3rd.

“It just wasn’t our game. (It was) one of those days where we got smacked back down to reality and we need to regroup,” said Gomez.

That will certainly change now as the Storm drop to 2-1 on the season. They head south this weekend to face off against the trio of Chaparral (9:45 a.m.), Gadsden (11:15 a.m.) and Organ Mountain (12:45 p.m.) on Sept. 6.