The Elkettes showed Brian Ainsworth that he could trust them unconditionally. In turn, Ainsworth showed the Elkettes that their reality could exceed their dreams.

"I trusted this team more than any other I've ever coached," Ainsworth said, as the Elkettes of Pojoaque Valley High School disappeared into the foyer of Santa Ana Center to celebrate their Class AAA state volleyball championship with family and friends Saturday night.

"This was the easiest team to coach. That's one of the reasons this year was so special."

Entering August and the season, Ainsworth was honest in his assessment.

The Elkettes possessed Dionna Montoya on the outside and Kira Trujillo in the middle. Ainsworth knew two hitters would not be enough to reach the ultimate goal.

Enter juniors Liz Gomez and Tamarra Vigil.

Ainsworth also said the Elkettes needed a fifth option.

Enter sophomore Lindsay Longacre.

Gomez, Vigil and Longacre did more than complement Montoya and Trujillo. The trio shone, and the Elkettes would not have finished 23-1 had Gomez, Vigil and Longacre not carried their share of the offense when teams focused their defensive attention on Montoya and Trujillo.

Ainsworth knew he had Miquella Lovato as his Minister of Defense, calling Lovato the best libero in the state. Not the best in AAA. But the best — period, exclamation point. Still, he said the Elkettes needed more than just two just passers, referring to Montoya as the 1A to Lovato's 1.

Montoya made the dig of Saturday's title match in the second game, when she got under Jenna Wagner's blur of a spike and popped the ball to Marissa Romero, who set it to Trujillo for 20-8, Elkettes.

Montoya rotates to the front, and while Lovato can get everywhere, she just can be everywhere at once.

Enter junior Kiana Vigil and sophomore Cara Salazar.

Vigil and Salazar not only get the ball to setter Marissa Romero at the right place and at the right time, they also help to take opponents out of their offenses with their serving.

"This is the best-serving team I've ever had," Ainsworth said.

The confirmation line stretches from Jacona to Raton, with stops at Santa Fe Indian School and St. Michael's, Las Vegas Robertson and West Las Vegas. The last convert are the Lady Rams of Portales.

In the Elkettes' 25-23, 14-25, 25-8, 25-20 championship victory over the Lady Rams, Pojoaque Valley stitched together a six-point scoring run in the opener, strung together 8-0, 5-0 and 5-0 surges in the third game and scored four unanswered points after Portales closed to 20-19 in the finale.

Pojoaque's offense is set for 78 rpms in a volleyball world that's stuck on 45.

The passes have to be quick. The sets need to be even quicker.

Ainsworth trusted the hands — and the head — of Marissa Romero, who blossomed into one of the state's best setters.

When Montoya injured her right foot in the second game, Romero kept Montoya's swings to a minimum until Montoya pushed the pain from her body in the way only Montoya can. It wasn't the only MENSA moment for Romero.

The fourth game was sweaty palms, dry mouths, edge of your seat from first serve. The Elkettes untied the sixth knot by scoring six of seven points for 12-8. The Lady Rams, though, clawed to within a single point five times, the last on a Wagner look-out-below kill down the line for 20-19.

But on the next serve, it was Romero's read-and-react dump into the open court that ended Portales' comeback.

"It was an instinctive read," Romero said. "It comes from all my years of setting."

Romero, one of four seniors, didn't earn her starting spot until she was a junior. But Ainsworth piled more complexities on her than any previous setter he's coached in the past two decades.

Late in the season, Ainsworth called Romero the best setter he's ever coach, Montoya the best outside hitter he's ever coached, Trujillo the best middle hitter he's ever coached and Lovato the best libero he's ever coach.

"It's awesome to hear that," Romero said. "I've put in a lot of time, but I wouldn't be the player I am if I didn't have the teammates and coach that I do."

Amber Lovato, Erin Lopez, Kyra Gonzalez — sophomore, junior, freshman — spent most of the season as unknowns. But the three had unforgettable moments at state.

When Salazar injured her left arm late in the second game and could not return, Lopez and Lovato helped life the defense back to its accustomed level. Gonzalez also saw front-row duty. Not just the in the final, but throughout.

When Ainsworth said the state championship would not have been possible had it not been for everybody's contributions, he made sure to look into the eyes of each Elkette as he spoke.

The 23 wins are a school record.

So was not losing to a New Mexico team. The Elkettes' lone loss came to Monument, a top team out of Arizona, in a semifinal of the Farmington Invitational in September.

Pojoaque Valley ended the season on 19-match winning streak, another record.

The Elkettes teased Ainsworth during the season about them being the best team he's ever coach, even with a 2006 state championship trophy sitting in the case. Ainsworth's response was "not until you win a state championship."

And now?

"By far," Ainsworth answered, when asked if this was the best team he's coached. "The credit goes to the team. This team is a complete volleyball team."

Turns out, Ainsworth's trust was not misplaced.

The Elkettes have the championship trophy to prove it.