Lady Lobos Win Crown At Rehoboth Invitational

By Greg Perkins
   The Lady Lobos came out of the gate strong to start the volleyball season, winning the Rehoboth Invitational tournament held over the weekend.
   Snowflake opened tournament pool play on Thursday, facing Navajo Pines and winning easily, 21-8 and 21-5. The Lady Lobos next faced Dulce, N.M., and won 21-16 and 21-15. Up next on Thursday was Ft. Wingate and another victory, 21-8 and 21-18. Finally they faced Ganado won that match 21-12 and 21-9.
    After those early rounds of pool play the tournament format changed to full matches with the top four teams from pool play facing each other. The top squads included Ft. Wingate, a 3A school from New Mexico, 3A Window Rock, Rehoboth, a 2A school from New Mexico, and 3A Snowflake. On Friday the Lady Lobos played just one match, defeating Rehoboth in three straight games, 25-13, 26-24 and 25-18.
    On Saturday the Lady Lobos faced Ft. Wingate for a second time and also won that match in three games, 25-20, 25-19 and 25-21. That win put them into the championship match where they met up with Window Rock. The Lady Scouts jumped out to an 18-9 lead, but Snowflake battled back before losing game one 23-25.
   “They looked stronger than they did when we scrimmaged them before the season started,” said Coach Alan Ramage.
   Snowflake turned the tables in the second game, winning it 25-18, then went on to win game three 25-19 and claimed the first place trophy by winning the fourth game 25-19.
    “We won the tournament and my girls showed some good things. This tourney allowed us to see some teams we wouldn’t normally see. It was a building block. We still have a lot of things to fix. We were up and down all weekend, and I hope time and lots of practice will fix these issues,” concluded Coach Ramage.
    The Lady Lobos will travel to Alchesay on Tuesday, Sept. 8, to open region play against the Lady Falcons. Two days later they will face the Blue Ridge Lady Yellowjackets at Lakeside.