Lady Buffs' bid in 2A denied

Staff writer

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RIO RANCHO — As championship Saturday began at the Santa Ana Star Center, balance and experience just won out over dominance.

link Staff photo: Kevin Wilson

Melrose junior Cailey Payne puts up a set in the first game of Saturday's Class 2A state championship match at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho.

Unbeaten Ramah, playing in its second volleyball title match in school history, rallied to score 32 of the final 41 points and finish its perfect season with a 25-13, 17-25, 21-25, 25-9, 15-8 victory over Melrose and a dominant performance by senior Caley Barnard.

Taea Hill had 10 kills and eight blocks to lead a balanced effort for the Lady Mustangs (23-0), who won the fourth game on a 17-1 run and capitalized on early service errors to lead the fifth set wire-to-wire.

They were the only two elimination games of the year for the Lady Mustangs, who posted sweeps in 21 of their 22 matches entering Saturday.

“I knew they were special last year, when we went to the state tournament,” Ramah coach Deana Larson said of the team’s Class 2A semifinal defeat a season ago. “ I didn’t lose anybody from last year. I knew they were good enough to get to the state tournament, and I knew they were good enough to win a state title.”

But not before Barnard and Melrose had their say.

After Ramah comfortably won the first set, Barnard got on a roll, posting five kills on Melrose’s first seven points, then serving a 6-0 run that made it 13-2. For the game, Barnard finished with 10 kills and two blocks.

“I think we just woke up,” said Barnard, who finished with 30 kills, three blocks and a pair of service aces. “We hadn’t played a team like Ramah all season long. We realized we needed to start playing now or never.”

The rest of the match became a standstill between what Melrose did with Barnard on the front line and what Ramah did with Barnard on the back row.

Melrose won the third set behind a 12-kill effort from Barnard, and Ramah claimed the fourth set behind four kills and three blocks by Hill.

The fifth set opened with a serve into the net by Melrose, and the Lady Mustangs took control as Jordyn Lewis posted two of her team-high 12 kills to put Ramah up 6-3. Melrose (18-6) never got closer than two after that point.

“We don’t serve it in the net those three times, we probably could take that fifth set,” first-year Melrose coach Casey Jackson said. “It just sucked all of the life out of us.”

Junior Hope Becker added nine kills and two blocks, and the Lady Mustangs had a great performance from setter Charlie Daniels, who saved numerous volleys.

“She can dig anything, she can hit anything,” Larson said.

Melrose graduates two players, including Barnard. She was one of four players from the Lady Buffs’ 2011 team that finished as state runnerup to Tatum.

“She told me to hold my head up, be proud,” Barnard said of a post-loss exchange with then-senior Cassidy Doherty in that match. “That’s the same thing I told the girls today. We have nothing to be ashamed about. The balls just weren’t going our way that last set. That’s God’s way of putting us through challenges, and maybe Ramah needed it more.

“We’ll use it as fuel for basketball, because everybody who plays volleyball plays basketball.”