Las Cruces, St. Pius among No. 1 state volleyball seeds

The Class 5A state volleyball tournament, as it did last year and the year before, will go through Las Cruces High School.

The unbeaten Bulldawgs (23-0) are the No. 1 seed for this year’s playoffs, which begin Thursday at various locations in Rio Rancho.

The top pursuers of Las Cruces are all from the metro area, starting with No. 2 La Cueva, then Cleveland, Albuquerque High and Volcano Vista.

The Bulldawgs, led by the state’s best player in senior hitter Addison Massey, are going to be problematic for everyone. They’ve dropped only a single set in 23 matches, that to La Cueva in the late September final of the Rio Rancho VolleyBash event.

Moreover, Las Cruces went a combined 6-0 against the teams seeded 2 through 5.

St. Pius, the defending 4A state champion, is seeded No. 1, with Goddard, Silver and Artesia also receiving first-round byes.

The Sartans (20-3) went undefeated against 4A competition this season. Their losses came to La Cueva, Cleveland and Albuquerque High.

Albuquerque Academy and Hope Christian were seeded just outside the top four, at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively.

Another defending state champion, St. Michael’s in Class 3A, also is seeded atop its bracket. Albuquerque’s Cottonwood Classical Prep is the No. 4 seed, with Cobre and Santa Fe Indian also getting byes in the first round.

Legacy Academy on the West Side didn’t lose a match to any Class 2A program, and the Silverbacks have the top seed in that division. They fell only to 4A’s Hope Christian and 3A’s SFIS. Defending champion Texico is the No. 2 seed.

Melrose, Logan, Elida and the 2024 champion, Quemado, were seeded 1 through 4 in Class 1A.

The tournaments are double elimination in format.

Matches in the first and second rounds of 5A/4A/3A will be contested on Thursday at the Rio Rancho Events Center. Class 5A plays at noon and 6 p.m., Class 4A at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and Class 3A at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Seeds 5 through 12 will play in the first round, and the top four seeds will await the winners of those matches later on Thursday.

Rio Rancho, Cleveland and Bernalillo high schools are hosting the large majority of Class 2A and 1A matches on Thursday and Friday.

All of the Saturday matches, as the five brackets are whittled to the final two teams in each, shift to the Rio Rancho Events Center.

All five finals are Saturday at the RREC. Classes 1A, 2A and 3A are scheduled for 4 p.m. The 4A and 5A championship matches are set for 6 p.m.