Photo by Steven St. JohnTribune

Tribune

Del Norte's Krystal Fournier (left) fires the first shot at teammates Jackie Stockton, Natalee Young and Mica Medina in an impromptu game of dodge ball after practice. The Knights are young, tall, athletic and looking to make a splash as pool play begins today in the state tournament.

Photo by Steven St. JohnTribune

Tribune

Del Norte's Zoe Becton nails a spike in practice. Becton is a 6-foot-1 sophomore playing just her second season of volleyball. Knights coach Andrea Quintana calls her one of the best players in one of the state's top volleyball districts, 3-4A.

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The suspense isn't gone, it simply moved.

For the past two years, tension twisted Del Norte volleyball fans' nerves only in the days before the state tournament field was announced.

Are the Knights going to make it?

Now Del Norte fans will get the distinct pleasure of wringing their hands during the state tournament.

How far can the Knights go?

Del Norte begins pool play today and the elimination round Thursday, not as a low-seeded anomaly, but as a dark-horse contender. With a self-taught coach who - surprisingly to her - fits the game and a covey of young, talented players, expect the Knights' rise to continue.

"We're definitely bigger," said third-year coach Andrea Quintana when asked about the Knights blossom season. "We have four girls at 6-feet. They are athletic. They have good chemistry and really push each other."

In a way, the players also pushed Quintana.

She was a basketball player. She is a kindergarten teacher. She wanted to be basketball head coach some day.

Quintana thought of herself as all these things.

But a volleyball coach? Never.

That's why Quintana was hesitant to take the position at Del Norte when school administrators approached her.

"I wasn't sure actually," Quintana said. "But I did not want to leave them (Del Norte's players) without a coach."

And that seemed to be a distinct possibility.

Three years ago, coach Albert Ronquillo accepted a job in another state just two weeks before the start of the season.

After accepting the position to replace Ronquillo, Quintana began to devour books on volleyball. She studied. She consulted local coaches.

It wasn't that she was unfamiliar with athletics, or even coaching. Quintana was a good enough basketball player to play at a junior college upon graduation from Silver High in 1995. She later worked under former Del Norte and current Sandia girls basketball coach Susan Kubala.

And even though she played volleyball in high school, the game's technical aspects - particularly fundamentals and game strategy - were largely unknown.

"I've been learning as I go," she said.

So are her players, some more than others.

Del Norte's most dynamic components play middle blocker: Zoe Becton and Shaina Saint-Lot.

Becton, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, is playing just her second season of volleyball. Still, Quintana calls her one of the best players in one of the state's top volleyball districts, 3-4A.

"She has just picked it up and ran with it," Quintana said.

Saint-Lot is smaller (5-9), but that hardly seems to matter. The junior more than makes up for what is a short frame, by volleyball standards, with the spring in her legs. She possesses a vertical jump that would make most varsity boys basketball players jealous.

"It's 35 inches," Quintana said.

Add Belen transfer Mica Medina, a productive offseason and an extra year of experience, and it's not difficult to see how the Knights made a four-game improvement from last season.

It's been a trend.

Last season the Knights fell just short of the state tournament. Although they finished 12-8, competing in one of the state's most challenging districts, an upset in another district tournament squeezed them out.

Del Norte made state in 2005, qualifying as the No. 16 (last) seed in the old, bloated brackets with a 10-10 record - before being thumped by eventual Class 4A champion Deming.

It seems as though Del Norte's on-court performance is catching up to what they do in the classroom.

Last year's Knights earned the Game Plan/American Volleyball Coaches Association Academic Award for boasting a 3.8 team grade-point average. They were one of 129 programs around the nation to receive such an honor and one of just two from New Mexico.

Quintana expects much from her players. If their GPA slips below 2.5, they can't play. (Albuquerque Public Schools and New Mexico Activities Association standards are 2.0 GPA.) They have study hall every day and are subject to weekly grade checks.

"We've raised the bar," Quintana said.