Necessity became the mother of invention for the St. Michael's volleyball team.

Playing city rival Capital for the second time in three days — this time in a quarterfinal of the Gold Bracket of Moriarty High's Pinto Invitational — the Lady Horsemen had to change Friday.

It worked to the tune of a 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20 win to advance to a semifinal matchup with Albuquerque Sandia today at 11 a.m.

St. Michael's consistently altered its lineup against the Lady Jaguars. The Lady Horsemen started with Mariah Borrego-Gonzales moving from the outside to the middle in an effort to slow down Capital's sophomore middle hitter Ashley Sorensen.

"It was just a matter of adjusting our middle," Lady Horsemen head coach Chela Butler said. "Ashley was causing some problems again."

She was still the nail that couldn't be hammered down, so junior Alexa Chavez moved to the middle for Game 4, which resulted in tight, but less stressful finish.

"I felt that emotionally, they were really well prepared," Butler said of Capital. "That's why the games were so close and that's why we struggled a little bit in how to counteract them. It was important to mix up the lineup, although at first, they were looking at me like, 'What?' "

Chavez finished with 10 kills to lead the St. Michael's attack, while Monique Romero added seven.

GODDARD 3, SANTA FE HIGH 2

When the reigning state volleyball champion in Class AAAA finishes fourth in its pool, which was the spot Roswell Goddard found itself in, that's all you need to know about the degree of difficulty that is the Pinto Invitational.

Gulp!

The Demonettes of Santa Fe High, one of the new kids in the Class AAAA block, were the equal to Goddard through four games before the Rockets prevailed 20-25, 25-14, 17-25,
25-13, 15-9 in a quarterfinal of the Silver Bracket.

"They fought every inch of the way," Sam Estrada, Santa Fe High head coach, said. "We just had lapses on the wrong points, at the wrong times."

The Demonettes (1-1) learned to play fatigued and are learning how to play a 6-2 offense, with Cera Nuñez and Robyn West sharing the setting duties.

Shivaughn Hatt finished with 15 kills to lead the Santa Fe High attack. Camille Romero and Ashlie Romero each added six kills, while Barbie Robertson had five.

DESERT ACADEMY 3, SANTA FE WALDORF 2

Didn't Estrella Flores have a soccer match to go to?

Flores, the two-sports-in-the-same-season standout, didn't single-handedly carry the Lady Wildcats to a
29-27, 17-25, 25-20, 17-25, 15-4 nondistrict victory over the Lady Wolves.

It just seemed that way.

Well, it did to Daniel Wendland.

"She killed us," Wendland, Santa Fe Waldorf head coach, said. "Estrella was all over the floor. Her serve was beautiful and her setter attack found the holes in our defense. She played really well."

So, too, did the Lady Wolves (0-2).

Well, for the first four games they did.

"We're fighting," Wendland said. "We just have to learn how to finish these games out. We cut down our errors, but we were inconsistent with our passing."

Sophia Richard finished with 14 service points, including four aces, and four digs for Santa Fe Waldorf. Kayla Salyer had 10 points, with two aces, six kills and five digs.

As for Flores, the lone returning starter, she finished with 21 points, including three aces. She also had
10 digs and nine kills. And in the fifth game, she served the Lady Wildcats to an 8-0 start.

Tory Heath, an eighth-grader, added 13 service points and one kill to the victory.

"We have a lot of new players playing together," Natalie Passalacqua, Desert Academy head coach, said. "We're still trying to find out who works well with each other."

As for soccer, Flores played a full match with the Desert Academy co-ed junior varsity prior to her volleyball debut.