Firsts were a thing to celebrate for the Lady Horsemen of St. Michael's, although that's not exactly how they left the Clovis Volleyball Invitational on Saturday.

While the host team may have taken the hardware in a 25-19, 25-21, 28-26 victory in the title match of the tournament, St. Michael's departed knowing it had gone further in that tournament than it ever had before.

And that was something to build on.

"We're really proud of that," St. Michael's head coach Chela Butler said.

What sustained the Lady Horsemen (2-1) throughout the tournament let up slightly in the final match.

"We were pretty successful blocking on the day and we didn't block nearly as well in the championship," Butler said. "A lot of that has to do with Clovis, so we had a more difficult time at the net."

Sara Hattis had eight kills to lead the Lady Horsemen, while Brea Simek and Aimee Geyer each had six kills. Geyer added four aces.

St. Michael's reached the final match with a 23-25, 25-23, 25-13, 25-22 semifinal victory over Denver City, Texas. In that match, Maya Cordova and Liz Othmer each had 12 kills and Hattis had seven blocks.

Cordova and Jess Madrid were named to the all-tourney team.

In other volleyball action:

Gallup 3, Santa Fe High 2

The Demonettes debuted under new head coach Sam Estrada and impressed, despite a season-opening loss to Gallup.

Gallup won in Toby Roybal Memorial Gymnasium, 25-20, 13-25, 18-25, 27-25, 15-7.

Promise was shown in the middle games.

"The third game was when we were playing our best," Estrada, who joined Santa Fe High after a stint at Española Valley, said. "We spent a lot of time on serve-receive and had we not, the scores might have been a little worse."

While the Demonettes tasted victory, they could not reach it.

"I was real impressed," Estrada said. "They wanted it maybe too much. At the end they were nervous and didn't play as well. But we'll start working and keep building.

Camille Borrego-Ojinaga led Santa Fe with nine kills.

Escalante 3, Santa Fe Preparatory 2

The Blue Griffins finally found their stride, it just didn't last as long as it needed to.

Escalante visited Prep Gymnasium and left with the nondistrict win, 25-17, 25-15, 19-25, 20-25, 15-11.

"These girls, there's no quit in them," Prep head coach Chris Chakeres said. "We kept grinding it out, caught some momentum and gave it a good run. We just fell a little short, but I was proud of the comeback."

Elle Cook had 22 kills to lead Prep (0-2). Victoria Lyon had 12 digs and Marissa Naranjo recorded 18 assists.

GIRLS SOCCER

Santa Fe Preparatory 2, Santa Fe High 1

Julia Harris, a striker out of necessity, scored the match-winner in the Santa Fe City Soccer Tournament at Brennand Field.

Harris accepted a through ball, one-touched it past a defended and slotted it into the net in the 73rd minute to untie the 1-1 knot. The midfielder moved forward to help generate more offense, which is without Ali Mackenzie.

"We really miss her up front," Rennae Ross, Santa Fe Prep head coach, said of Mackenzie, a senior co-captain who is sidelined with a hip flexor injury.

It shows.

Santa Fe Prep (3-2) finished with nine shots on frame. One, though, gave the Blue Griffins the head start. Kiki Lenihan dribbled to the endline, turned back and scored far post from 15 yards out.

Lenihan's goal, coming in the 21st minute, lasted for all of nine minutes. That's when Claire Bartlett scored the equalizer, a header of a Kristin Graham corner kick. It was one of five shots for the Demonettes (0-2).

"We were able to get some numbers forward offensively and we got some shots off of that," Katie Roberts, Santa Fe High head coach, said.

Most occurred in the first half.

"We were a little unsure about ourselves in the first half," Ross said. "But we pretty much controlled the entire second half."

Roberts was pleased as swell, commending her defense comprised of Lela Montoya, Wylee Price, Petra Zeiler and Mary Center.

"They played tremendously well and my 'keeper, Mara Dauber, was a rock back there," Roberts said.

Dauber recorded five saves. Sully Wilson, her Santa Fe Prep counterpart, had four saves.

Monte del Sol 1, Bernalillo 1

The Lady Dragons nearly held on in their nondistrict match at the Municipal Recreation Complex.

"I thought it was an even match, as was shown by the score," Monte del Sol head coach Justin Najaka said.

Alyssa Maunders gave the Lady Dragons (1-2-1) the lead in the 47th minute with a goal via breakaway, but Bernalillo caught them on Mitilda Smith's goal in the 75th minute.

"It was a good, solid game," Najaka said. "There was a lot of challenging back and forth."

Jordin Schneider recorded seven saves for Monte del Sol.

BOYS SOCCER

Socorro 2, Santa Fe Preparatory 1 (OT)

Are the Warriors are out to prove that last year's state runner-up finish was no fluke?

Is a 2-0 start to the season a good enough answer?

Santa Fe Prep (2-3) proved to be Socorro's equal through regulation. But in the first overtime, the Warriors scored the golden goal.

"We were a little out of balance. They found a seam and scored," Hersch Wilson, Santa Fe Prep head coach, said of the Warriors' winning goal. "But we played really well."

Except for Billy Scarborough. The Blue Griffins' senior goalkeeper was exceptional.

"In the second half, my scorekeeper told me there was no more room for saves," Wilson said.

Scarborough recorded 27 saves.

Santa Fe Prep managed 12 shots. Max Hogan netted one in the 12th minute, emerging from a scrum for a 1-0 head start. Soccoro answered in the 16th minute.