Needing a little more than an hour to make the one-way trip, the Questa Ladycats traveled over Bobcat Pass and alongside the Palisade Cliffs on US 64 to participate in the annual Cimarron Invitational Volleyball Tournament Sept. 8-9. As far as distance was concerned, Questa had the third-shortest trip to make (compared to the other participating teams), which may have worked in their favor as the Ladycats would come away with a second-place finish.
After sweeping through all sets in preliminary pool-play on Friday, the Ladycats secured one of the top spots in the eight-team consolation bracket. The format for the tournament included two pools of four teams each. A two-set match is played with each of the teams in the respective pools, and the team with the most set wins is seeded number one. The next highest number of wins is number two, and so on. If there is a tie (if, for example, two teams split their match), then total points garnered during pool play is taken into consideration.
In their pool, the Ladycats faced the Des Moines Demonettes, Mesa Vista Lady Trojans and Peñasco Lady Panthers. By virtue of shutting out their opponents, Questa earned the number 1 seed, and would be paired with the host team Cimarron Lady Rams (the number 4 seed from the other pool). The remaining three teams from the other pool included the Clayton Lady Yellowjackets, Springer Red Devils and Mora Rangerettes.
In bracket play, the Ladycats would go on to defeat Cimarron 3-1 in a late-evening quarterfinal match Sept. 8. Questa would return the following day, blanking Clayton 3-0 in the mid-morning, semi-final game.
Ultimately, Questa would fall 3-0 to the Springer Red Devils who defeated Mesa Vista in the quarterfinals and Peñasco in the semi-final round. All told, the Red Devils (who only needed to travel 25-minutes from their hometown) glided through the tournament without losing a single set — overpowering all of the district 5-2A teams in their clinching of the tournament championship.
With the impressive run in the tournament, the Ladycats improved their overall record to 3-2 thus far (pool play matches do not count as regular season games). Questa faced Cimarron for a third time this season and hosted the Lady Rams in the “Mini-Pit” Tuesday (Sept. 12). Results were not available by the time this section went to press.
Next up for the Ladycats will be a cross-border match with the Lady Trojans of Antonito (CO) on Saturday, Sept. 16. Questa will have another shot at the Springer Red Devils when they visit the “Mini-Pit” Tuesday (Sept. 19), kicking off a three-game home stand to close out the month.
Ladycats 2023 volleyball schedule
Sept. 5, at Cimarron (W, 3-0)
Sept. 6, vs. Taos (L, 3-1)
Sept. 8-9, at Cimarron Tourney (2nd place)
Sept. 12, vs Cimarron, 5 p.m.
Sept. 16, at Antonito (CO), 12 p.m.
Sept. 19, vs Springer, 6 p.m.
Sept. 21, vs. Des Moines, 5 p.m.
Sept. 26, vs. Coronado, 5 p.m.
Sept. 30, at Dulce, 4 p.m.
Oct. 10, vs Escalante, 6 p.m.*
Oct. 12, at Mora, 6 p.m.*
Oct. 17, vs Mesa Vista, 6 p.m.*
Oct. 19, at McCurdy, 6 p.m.*
Oct. 24, at Peñasco, 6 p.m.*
Oct. 26, at Escalante, 6 p.m.*
Oct. 30, vs Mora, 5 p.m.*
Nov. 2, at Mesa Vista, 6 p.m.*
Nov. 6, vs McCurdy, 6 p.m.*
Nov. 9, vs Peñasco, 6 p.m.*
Nov. 16-18, NM State Championships, TBA
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