Ruidoso Free Press
October 23, 2012
15
Gateway pulls off upset over Corona off will energize these girls.” The match throws the rest of the regular season in doubt. Corona – initially a prohibitive favorite to win its second straight regular season district title by running the table – has more than a week off before facing Lake Arthur on the road on Oct. 30. Gateway Christian plays at Hon-
do next Tuesday in a showdown between second-place teams. The winner of that match would have sole possession of second place and stand to challenge Corona for the district title. But Hondo is the only one that would face Corona again – a Nov. 1 season finale at Corona.
Todd Fuqua/Ruidoso Free Press
The Corona duo of Hannah Gage (23) and Shelly Gensler go up for a block of Gateway Christian’s Shaye Nelson, Thursday, at Roswell. advances in which the Lady Warriors proved scrappy in long volleys. The Lady Cardinals had game point serve twice before a hit by Lizzie Worrrall went long to give Corona the 26-24 victory. The second game was even more frustrating for the Lady Cardinals, who opened the frame with a 7-1 lead before their serving and serve-receive woes allowed Gateway to take the lead at 20-17 and never relinquish the advantage. “Evidently, I’m not getting the job done,” Gage said of Corona’s service problems. “This is the most disappointed I’ve ever been with an effort as the coach at Corona. The effort just wasn’t there.” The rest of the match was the same – with Corona taking a lead, then watching the Lady Warriors storm back to tie it or take their own lead. “Losing that fist game was disappointing, but I knew we could pull it back up,” said Gateway outside hitter Kate Hammonds. “I could feel that spirit getting up in us.” Gateway Christian really got into its groove in game four, using a late 6-0 run with Longmire serving to take control and never let go for the seven-point win. The Lady Warriors continued with that momentum into the deciding game, as Corona only had the lead once at 3-2.
Gateway got the serve right back and built a 6-3 lead with Shreea Mistry serving – taking advantage of unforced Lady Cardinal errors. They never gave the lead up, and a kill by Hammonds put the match away for the Lady Warriors. “I was a little nervous about this match yesterday, but after practice today, I felt at peace about it and knew that we were all ready,” Hammonds said. “We were all pumped and ready to go.” “Corona was struggling and kind of beating themselves, but then they started to play smarter and keeping the ball in play, trying to force us to make the errors,” Pirtle said “I was glad that we stepped up and kept attacking the ball to make them work for any points they got.” “I’m not sure I can bring anything positive out of tonight,” Gage said. “I didn’t have a single girl – on the floor or on the bench – that had a normal game. It was maybe a 50 percent effort. And the seniors were making mistakes like the eighth graders. “So now it’s back to day one, working on serves and serve receives,” he added. “Maybe a week
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By Todd Fuqua Sports Editor todd@ruidosofreepress.com ROSWELL – Corona may have come into Thursday’s District 3B matchup with Gateway Christian looking to extend its two-year win streak over district opponents, but the Lady Warriors had other plans. Gateway Christian got one of its biggest volleyball wins in school history with a 24-26, 25-21, 22-25, 25-18, 15-7 victory to mark the Lady Cardinals’ first district loss in two years and put the Lady Warriors into a second-place tie with Hondo. The Lady Eagles defeated Lake Arthur in three games on Thursday night. Corona (14-3, 6-1 district) now holds a slim half-game lead atop the district standings, and coach Richard Gage knows the rest of the district will be gunning for the Lady Cardinals. “Nothing’s safe now,” Gage said. “If we continue to play like this, we won’t even be in the hunt.” “If we continue to play like this, it looks more like a three-way playoff,” said Gateway coach Kerri Pirtle. “After Tuesday, maybe not even that.” Probably the most frustrating thing about Thursday’s match for Corona is that this had no business being this close. The Lady Cardinals came in with serving problems – both giving and receiving – which had also plagued them in a 25-21, 25-22, 25-16 win over Hondo two days before. That is what ultimately spelled their doom on Thursday. Game one was a prime example. Corona got a pair of leads midway through the frame – including a 16-6 lead following a six-point scoring streak with Hannah Gage serving – but couldn’t hold either advantage. Gateway (7-9, 4-2) gained a lot of momentum starting with a block by Charlee Longmire of Lady Cardinal hitter Shelly Gensler, which sparked an 8-0 run to tie things up at 17-all. From there, Corona had to fend off numerous
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Carrizozo netters sweep past Quemado By Todd Fuqua Sports Editor todd@ruidosofreepress.com Carrizozo’s volleyball team swept District 4B opponent Quemado on the road Friday, but don’t think it was all that easy. “They were kind of competitive, and this is the start of a rivalry,” said Carrizozo coach Pam Allen. “That always plays into what happens.” The Lady Grizzlies (13-3, 2-1 bidistrict) have been hampered by illness striking most of the varsity on the court, and Allen said she was impressed with how the girls stepped up. “The seven kids that do the bulk of the varsity playing have been really sick, and we had to play through it on Fri-
day,” Allen said. “These kids have lots of heart and they believe in their teammates. We came through that in good shape.” Carrizozo is at Reserve next week, and a win there puts the Lady Grizzlies at 2-0 in District 4B. They’ve split with Class 1A team Animas in bi-district play, meaning they’d still have to travel to Animas to play for that championship, even if they end up winning the District 4B title. Allen is just hoping to get past the team illness. “Our plan is to play through and advance to the state tournament,” Allen said. “I need to be alert in practice and design things so we can get through this and not create too much fatigue.”
WARRIORS from pg. 13 “We’re excited to get after them,” Johnson said. “Their record doesn’t show how good they are, so we’d better be ready. Coach Jaime Ramirez is getting them going and they’ve been better as the season progresses.” Note: The Ruidoso junior varsity finished its season with a 14-6 victory over Tularosa on Thursday, a promising sign for the future of Warrior football. The JV was 3-3 on the year, and coach Johnson is looking forward to the younger players contributing now that varsity is into district play.
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