Jessica Tsosie can set.

And dig.

And pass.

And lead.

It is her combination plate of skills that is one reason the Lady Braves of Santa Fe Indian School are undefeated and ranked fourth in Class AAA.

In a matchup of ranked teams, the Lady Braves dismissed the Lady Cardinals of Las Vegas Robertson 25-15, 25-15, 25-23 Thursday night in Francis L. Abeyta Memorial Gymnasium.

Robertson, a familiar foe, arrived ranked sixth.

"We knew we'd get some serious competition," Seatha Pacheco, SFIS head coach, said. "Nothing is going to be free. They're going to fight all the way through."

It's true.

Down a pair of games and knotted 17-17, the Lady Cardinals stitched together six unanswered points and fashioned a 23-17 advantage.

Two timeouts did nothing to change the momentum, not with Lakeshia Padilla on the sideline with cramps. With the libero replacing Padilla on the back row, Pacheco had no choice but to pull Padilla away from getting her leg wrapped and insert her back in the lineup, so she could make another substitution.

Padilla, a 6-foot senior, hammered three of her 11 team-high spikes to complete the sweep and raise the Lady Braves' record to 3-0.

"When she plays like she did, she can be very intimidating," Pacheco said of Padilla, who had nine digs and served two aces.

And when Tsosie covers one side of the court and then the other in a 10-second spurt, she can be downright exhausting.

"She played an excellent defensive game," Pacheco said of Tsosie, who had six digs, two aces and 19 assists.

Melodie Cruz chipped in eight kills and three digs, while Danielle Nelson had three kills and four blocks.

There was only one blemish.

The teams no longer reside in the same district.

"Now we beat them," Pacheco laughed before turning serious. "Every match matters."


The next best thing to being ranked is knocking off a ranked team, which is precisely when Lady Roadrunners accomplished in their 25-16, 25-9, 22-25, 25-18 win over the Lady Longhorns, ranked seventh in Class B, in Larson Gymnasium.

"It was our first big test of the year and we passed," Stacy Nowak, New Mexico School for the Deaf head coach, said through an interpreter. "We shocked them in the first two games for sure."

The Lady Roadrunners also found their stride after stumbling in the third game.

Caldonia Wilding finished with nine kills for the Lady Roadrunners (3-0). She also served six aces en route to 10 service points.

Regina Garcia had seven aces and 17 service points for NMSD. Setter Mia Fernandez recorded 13 assists to go with her seven points.

"Her desire, her heart and her setting selections," Nowak said of Fernandez and three reasons why the Lady Roadrunners triumphed. "She's dead now because she's so exhausted. She played so brilliantly."

Who didn't?

"Our offense clicked," Nowak said. "We got offense from four or five players."

And, the best is still to come.

"We have a long way to go," Nowak said. "They haven't even reached half their potential."


Follow the freshman.

That was the game within the match for the Lady Sundevils, who defeated the Lady Tigers 20-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-20 behind the play of freshman Kayla Romero.

"She played with a lot of guts," Damon Salazar, Española Valley head coach, said of Romero, who finished with a team-high 18 kills.

Maddy Romero chipped in nine kills and three aces, Sabrina Duran had six aces and setter Karli Salazar had 30 assists and four aces.

The Lady Sundevils (2-2) rallied from a 23-15 deficit in the third game of the nondistrict match in Edward A. Medina Gymnasium.

"Our serving and passing were great tonight," coach Salazar said.