By James Yodice / Journal Staff Writer
Varsity high school volleyball is predominantly a night sport. But it’s never looked like this. Not in New Mexico, anyway.
Not until Tuesday night.
The state’s inaugural prep outdoor night match was, by and large, a resounding success, as Albuquerque Academy and La Cueva became the first two schools in the state to compete in a match under the stars.
La Cueva’s sweep (25-21, 25-19, 25-7), in front of a large and energetic (and largely student-led) crowd, was hardly the story Tuesday as New Mexico joined roughly a dozen other states around the country to leave the comfort of a gymnasium for the great outdoors.
“It was so fun,” La Cueva freshman setter Charlie Ferguson said. “The whole team was so excited about it.”
The Academy’s Richard A. Harper Memorial Stadium, which already hosts football, soccer, track and field and cross country, added volleyball on this night.
“It was crazy,” Chargers sophomore Rowan Jaime said. But being part of that short list of states to hold an outdoor match was well worth it. “That’s really cool to me.”
A temporary court was hauled in from Colorado, and laid out inside the Harper stadium, on the far east side, on top of the grass, roughly where visiting football teams stand. Some temporary bleachers were added to supplement the modest number of existing bleacher seating on that side of the stadium.
