Late Rally Falls Short as East Mountain Volleyball Drops Heartbreaker to Manzano

SANDIA PARK, N.M. — A ferocious fifth-set comeback fell just short Tuesday as the East Mountain High School volleyball team dropped a five-set heartbreaker to Class 4A Manzano at the Vista Grande Community Center.

The Lady Timberwolves took the visiting Monarchs the distance before falling 25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 16-25, 15-13.

With the non-district loss, Class 3A East Mountain moved to 7-5 on the season, while Manzano improved to 4-5.

After splitting the first four sets, East Mountain found itself in an immediate hole in the decisive fifth frame. Manzano stormed out to an 8-0 lead and pushed the advantage to 11-2, putting the Lady Timberwolves on the brink of defeat.

That was when East Mountain’s Calla DiMaio stepped to the service line.

DiMaio delivered nine consecutive service points, sparking a stunning 9-0 run that tied the set at 11-11 and energized the home crowd.

“I’ve never seen a game five like that,” East Mountain head coach Claire Rose said. “I told them if that was the only game that we based this off of, to show the grit and the tenacity that we weren’t going to give up regardless of what the scoreboard said. So I’m super proud of them for that.”

Manzano managed to steady itself in the closing exchanges, edging out the final points to claim the set and the match.

“Couldn’t hang on to our momentum, probably more than anything else,” Rose said. “We played really tight at the very beginning… We played really tight in the fifth and made a lot of unnecessary mistakes. But man, Calla, she totally brought us back.”

The Lady Timberwolves controlled stretches of the back-and-forth contest behind a balanced attack led by DiMaio, Alynna Cook, Olivia Gonzales and Skylar Graff. Olivia Gonzales and Sonya Gonzales anchored the offense with sharp setting, while Henley Hatley, Bella Rae Winnicki, Ada Hansen and Evelyn Salberg held down the back row to extend rallies.

The five-set battle capped a demanding stretch for the Lady Timberwolves, who entered the week fresh off winning the silver bracket at their weekend tournament. Hatley, East Mountain’s libero, earned all-tournament honors for her defensive play.

The tournament run earned East Mountain state-wide attention, including a split in pool play with top-ranked Hot Springs.

“Nobody knows who we are and what a great team we are,” Rose said of the team’s early-season profile. “I feel like we were able to turn some heads… The tournament got us some really good exposure amongst other 3A teams.”

East Mountain continues its non-district slate Thursday at Robertson with first serve set for 6 p.m. The Lady Timberwolves open District 5-3A play Tuesday at Cottonwood Classical at 5 p.m.