The Pojoaque Elkettes made it look easy, so why couldn't the Monte del Sol girls soccer team score?

That's what the Lady Dragons were left wondering after Pojoaque escaped with a 1-0 nondistrict win at Jacona on Wednesday.

Monte del Sol (4-9-1) was left scoreless despite 21 shots, including 14 on frame. The Lady Dragons also had 17 corner kicks, which is a season's worth for some teams.

"We played most of the game on their side of the field," Monte del Sol head coach Justin Najaka said. "We just couldn't score."

Which is what Pojoaque did in the 22nd minute, as Kimberly Babicke's chip over Lady Dragons goalkeeper Jordan Schneider bounced into the back of the net. After that, Elkettes 'keeper Bianca Saunders took center stage, finishing with
14 saves and receiving a hearty congratulation from Najaka.

"I think she earned her position today," Najaka said. "She worked hard out there. I even told her, 'You were like a brick wall today.' "

BOYS SOCCER

Santa Fe Preparatory 8, Santa Fe Waldorf 0

The formalities are out of the way for the Blue Griffins, who breezed past the Wolves in a District 2A-AAA match at Brennand Field.

Up next are the Horsemen of St. Michael's with the district title up for grabs, in all likelihood. St. Michael's came away with a 3-2 win on Sept. 11 and kickstarted a 6-0 start in the district. Santa Fe Prep (8-7 overall) is right on the heels of the Horsemen at 5-1.

"We're really excited to play each other," Blue Griffins head coach Hersch Wilson said. "It's the most fun we have in the season because we are so evenly matched and we're all great friends and the kids come out and play hard."

Paawee Rivera even split his four goals between both halves as the Blue Griffins held a 5-0 lead at the break. Max Hogan added a pair of goals, while Jae Lee and Marcus Baron each had a goal.

VOLLEYBALL

Capital 3, Taos 0

Who needs a home court?

Not the Lady Jaguars, who have been without theirs for the past three weeks while new bleachers are being installed.

They continued their District 2AAAA road trip with a 25-16, 25-7, 25-14 win in Otero Gymnasium. Capital head coach Natalie Garcia finally saw a consistent performance from start to finish, although that's not what warmups told her.

"We just weren't hitting the ball very well and we just looked off," Garcia said. "It's just one of those things where you have to shake it off and get ready to play."

The Lady Jaguars (9-5 overall, 3-0 2AAAA) were led by Erika Ortega's 12 kills and 22 assists from Paolo Franco.

Pecos 3, Monte del Sol 0

The Lady Dragons opened up District 4AA play by getting swept by the Lady Panthers, 25-11, 30-28, 25-16, in the Genoveva Chavez Community Center.

Monte del Sol head coach Shanna Marsh-Martinez felt Game 2 proved to be her team's undoing.

"We couldn't close the second game," Marsh-Martinez said. "We were up 24-19 and we missed some serves and had some unforced errors."

Brianna Thompson led the Lady Dragons (1-10 overall) with seven kills.

Desert Academy 3, Santa Fe Waldorf 0

The Lady Wildcats finally had an opportunity to clear their bench, which is what they did by the time Game 3 of a 25-14, 25-5, 25-6 District 2A win came about in Fort Marcy Complex.

And it couldn't have come at a better time for Desert Academy's Corine Garcia, who battled through back spasms to record 10 kills, seven assists and three aces. She also reeled off nine straight service points and finished with 12. But her head coach, Natalie Passalacqua, could tell something was amiss when Garcia missed her first serve.

"We took her out of the (first) game to loosen up her back," Passalacqua said. "It helped her out there."

To Waldorf head coach Daniel Wendland, it didn't matter who was out there for Desert Academy, who improved to 6-5 overall and 4-1 in 2A.

"Desert takes care of the ball really well around the net," Wendland said. "Any time we got the ball over the net, their front row just pounded the ball on us."

Waldorf fell to 0-8 and 0-5.