Estrada lifts Sunrise Mountain over Valley

Right up until Miners defensive specialist Lenny Estrada stepped up to serve.

Estrada had seven aces, including three straight in the first game after Valley jumped to a 3-0 lead, to lead the Miners to a 27-25, 25-19, 25-20 win.

“I’m a sore loser; I don’t know how to lose,” said Estrada, a junior who added five kills, including a curving spike for the match winner. “So when we’re down, and it’s my turn to serve, I go back there and swing at the ball to kill. When I’m angry, I guess I serve better. At the moment, I was kind of mad, so I just kept serving. … I knew my team wanted it as bad as I wanted it.”

After Valley setter Lenore Porter led her team to the first three points, Estrada helped the Miners blitz the Vikings during a 10-1 run that opened up the game. Tiara Veal had assists to six teammates, and Sunrise Mountain overcame four late kills and an ace by Briana Johnson to edge the Vikings 27-25 in the first game.

“We’re halfway through the season, and our bond has grown so much,” Estrada said. “I guess we’re just so comfortable with each other, we just know where everybody’s at. We trust each other to get the ball; we talk. And we came in here planning to win. Valley beat us, and it’s our turn to beat them. That was the mentality we had.”

Jenae Yurek Cahlee helped Sunrise Mountain (8-7, 5-2 Northeast League) hold off a late charge by Valley (7-8, 3-4) with eight kills and four aces. Veal finished with 21 assists.

“We knew this game had some meaning behind it,” said Miners coach Alberto Ronquillo, whose team lost to Valley early in the season at Western’s Warrior Classic. “We were confident that, if we could play our game, we could compete with them.”

After falling behind 19-8 in the second game, the Vikings rallied with a 10-3 run that included aces by Johnson and Zoe Galindo to cut the lead to 22-18. But a late service error by Valley helped set up Cahlee’s easy game winner on a pass from Veal.

Valley tied the third game at 16 when Porter’s setter dump halted a four-pount streak by the Miners, and Briana Cervantes served two of her three aces during a six-point run to give the Vikings a late lead. But a quick kill by Alicia Winchester sparked an 8-2 run capped by Estrada’s match winner.

Porter led Valley with 16 assists and two kills. Johnson added six kills and three aces for the Vikings, and Clarissa Herrera had five kills.