Lady T-Wolves Sweep Bosque, Close in on District Crown

SANDIA PARK, N.M. — The East Mountain Lady Timberwolves took care of business in dominant fashion Tuesday night, sweeping the Bosque Lady Bobcats 3-0 at the Vista Grande Community Center.

East Mountain (14-8) overcame a tight opening battle before cruising through the final two frames to claim the 25-23, 25-10, 25-17 victory. Bosque fell to 8-13 on the season.

The Lady Timberwolves faced early resistance in the opening set, trading points with the Lady Bobcats before seizing the momentum late to take the two-point edge. From there, East Mountain leaned on its firepower at the net, overpowering Bosque in a runaway second set and closing out the sweep in the third.

East Mountain head coach Claire Rose attributed the team’s poise under pressure to an uncompromising work ethic and targeted preparation. After taking Friday off to support the boys’ soccer team, the players requested an extra Sunday practice session at East Mountain Baptist Christian Academy to get in additional repetitions.

“It really takes a lot of practice,” Rose said. “These girls want this so badly. … We were here yesterday. We were here earlier this morning, even though we didn’t have school yesterday and we did have school today. It’s just such a testament to their dedication.”

That extra gym time focused heavily on handling late-match adversity.

“We put them in scenarios like this. We put them in scenarios where they’re down, where maybe they’re getting lots of bad calls from the refs, whatever it is, so that we can practice resiliency,” Rose said. “I don’t think it’s something that totally comes natural as a team, but we’ve been practicing it all year, and this definitely paid off.”

The front line delivered heavy hits throughout the night, setting the tone as East Mountain refused to let Bosque back into the match.

“I wore my stomping boots and I dressed for business, and we were all business today,” Rose said. “We didn’t play around. We didn’t drop a set like we normally do. We knew coming into this week we had to accomplish some things to get our main goal, which is to go to state. Because even being second place in district doesn’t guarantee it, so we knew we had to clinch. And I think we did that tonight.”

With set differentials playing a crucial role in postseason seeding and state tournament qualification, the straight-set victory positions the Lady Timberwolves right where they want to be. East Mountain turns its focus to Thursday’s regular-season finale against Cuba.

East Mountain roster — Henley Hatley, Bella Rae Winnicki, Skylar Graff, Ada Hansen, Evelyn Salberg, Olivia Gonzales, Sonya Gonzales, Alynna Cook, Calla DiMaio.