Gateway ousts Logan in 1A semifinals

RIO RANCHO - A Class 1A volleyball championship clash of No. 1 Melrose vs. No. 2 Logan seemed inevitable virtually all season, but Gateway Christian had other ideas Saturday morning.

The Warriors, seeded fourth in the tournament, ousted the Lady Longhorns 21-25, 25-23, 25-11, 16-25, 15-10 in the semifinals.

In the fifth and deciding set, Gateway's Kimber Balok made three kills and an ace during a critical 5-2 scoring run to give her team a 13-9 lead. Balok totaled 11 kills and a team-high six scoring blocks during the match.

Emily Martin (seven kills, four blocks) made a kill to put Gateway on the verge of victory, and teammate Morgan Worley notched the match-winning kill to advance her team to the finals.

Logan's Lizzy Horner dived near one of the net poles to try to make a save but was shaken up on the play. Trainers examined her for several minutes before she left the floor on her own power.

In a corner of the Rio Rancho Events Center, Logan coach Glynna Strand tried to console her distraught players.

When asked what she told her squad, Strand responded: "The top four seeds at any given time can win the game. Volleyball is a game of momentum. Sometimes you've got it on your side; sometimes you don't. Yesterday we were on fire with it (a win over Legacy Academy), and today we weren't."

Strand also hugged many of her players individually after her season-closing speech.

"I'm proud of my girls," Strand added. "They did a fantastic job all year. Our leadership was excellent, and my team stuck together as a group. Sometimes you have infighting, and these girls were not like that. They came together and stuck together."

Senior Kaylee Williams, who led the Lady Longhorns with 14 kills, gave similar testimony.

"We had a lot of improvement from the beginning of the season to the end," she said. "It doesn't matter how it ended; the memories that we made and the improvement that we had with each other ... it was such a huge bonding experience. That's something that I'll never feel again."

Logan ended its season with a 19-6 record and edged eventual state champion Melrose for the district title.

Logan and Gateway notched a near-identical total of kills during the match, but the Warriors commanded a 14-6 advantage in scoring blocks.

"That's the best blocking team we played against all year," Strand said. "I think that made a difference. They keyed on our key hitters and took us out of our hitting game a little bit."

Gateway coach Kaylee Stephens said a change in her team's defense after it lost the first set proved to be the key.

"They were tipping a lot, so we adjusted our defense on that and tried to hit their holes more than we did in the first game," she said.

"We came out more aggressive, for sure. But the biggest thing was playing better defense, and it helped our offense get going."

Alyssa Fox led Gateway with 12 kills, plus two blocks. Kadence Garcia added eight kills.

One of the referees repeatedly whistled Logan for double-hits during passes, especially on sets by Haylie Bidegain. Strand didn't initially complain about it after the match, but she acknowledged it bothered her team when asked about it.

"That hurt us a lot," Strand said of the double-hit calls. "We hadn't seen that the whole tournament. I don't know if we were really struggling setting today or they were a lot harder on us than the other ones have been. Luck of the draw, I guess."

Melrose (24-3) went on to nab the state title with a 25-20, 25-15, 25-22 victory Saturday afternoon over Gateway - its second win over the Warriors (23-5) in as many days.

Logan, which earned a first-round bye in the tournament, dispatched of 10th-seed Quemado 25-14, 25-12, 25-5 on Thursday, then unexpectedly walloped third-seeded Legacy Academy 25-10, 25-13, 25-14 in the quarterfinals on Friday. Legacy barely lost a five-set battle at Logan earlier in the season.

The Lady Longhorns lose six senior players - Williams, Horner, Camryn Cantrell, Hailee Robertson, Bella Coronado and Mona Teaschner.

"We're going to miss every single one of them, including the managers," Strand said. "They were the best managers I've ever had, and they were fantastic players. We're going to miss them like crazy."