Tough Test: East Mountain Volleyball Falls to Powerhouse Legacy Academy

SANDIA PARK, N.M. — Facing the reigning Class 2A state champions in front of an energized home crowd proved to be an early-season test of nerves for the East Mountain Lady Timberwolves on Tuesday night.

Taking on a powerhouse Legacy Academy squad fresh off a 23-2 championship campaign in 2025, East Mountain dropped the match 3-0 to move to 2-2 on the young season.

First-year head coach Claire Rose scheduled the formidable non-district opponent deliberately, aiming to test her squad’s mettle against elite competition right out of the gate. While early jitters and uncharacteristic miscues proved costly in the opening sets, the Lady Timberwolves settled into their rhythm as the match wore on.

“You could tell definitely in game one and part of game two that their nerves really got the best of them,” Rose said. “We got a great crowd out, and I think that combined with our first official home game, it was a lot of nerves. We are normally a very good serving team, and that kind of took the wind out of our sails. We normally don’t miss quite that many serves, but in Game 3 we kind of turned it around and we were able to be competitive because we were able to lock in our serves.”

Despite battling through mistakes at the net, East Mountain maintained its composure and fight on the floor, refusing to let the momentum shift affect team unity.

“The overall attitude throughout, we were playing,” Rose said. “We weren’t quitting, we weren’t getting down on each other, which is exactly what you want. I’m proud of them. We have a lot of volleyball still ahead of us — like 20 games.”

For Rose, scheduling the defending state champions was all about setting the tone for what the Lady Timberwolves need to discover within themselves as the season unfolds.

“I wanted to play Legacy, and I wanted to start our season off that way,” Rose said. “I want us to play challenging teams to kind of find that intrinsic dog, you know. To say like, ‘Hey, we can play these really tough teams, win or lose.’ We can find small moments that show that we can compete at a high level, and can we hold on to that inner dog?”

The Lady Timberwolves won’t have to wait long to regroup. East Mountain embarks on a two-game road swing beginning Thursday, Sept. 3, at Del Norte High School, followed by a trip to Santa Fe Prep on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

The team returns home Thursday, Sept. 10, to host Oak Grove Classical Academy.