ALAMOSA – A pair of Top 10 high school volleyball teams met Tuesday at the Alamosa High School gym as second-ranked Alamosa hosted seventh-ranked Centauri.

For the most part it was all Mean Moose as they won in three sets against the Falcons. The scores were 25-14, 25-16 and 25-19.

“I think that we handled them pretty well,” said Alamosa coach Annie Mortensen. “But at least they had fight.”

“We knew we were going to have a tough match coming in here,” said Centauri coach Eddie Chacon. “They’re a good team. But we fought hard and we have some things to work on. But I like that we didn’t give up. We fought to the end and that bodes well for the rest of the season. It was a good game for us and we get them at home later in the season. I told the girls from Alamosa that we want to play them in the state championship. If we keep working and keep making each other better, hopefully we’ll get them next time when we’re at home.”

The match started with the teams exchanging the first four side outs. The Mean Moose then scored four straight points with Egypt Holman recording two service aces.

Alamosa extended the lead to 12-6 before Centauri scored three consecutive points. After a brief Mean Moose side out, the Falcons had another 3-0 rally to close the deficit to 13-12.

The rest of the first set was all Alamosa as it scored 12 of the final 14 points for a 25-14 win.

Centauri began the second set by scoring the first two points, but Alamosa answered with a 7-2 run to take a 7-4 lead.

The Falcons came back to tie the score at 8-8, but the Mean Moose had a 4-2 run to assume a 12-10 lead.

Centauri again deadlocked the score at 12-12, however, Alamosa scored six unanswered points to regain the lead at 18-12.

The Mean Moose pushed the lead to 21-13, but the Falcons narrowed the deficit to 21-15. Alamosa then scored four of the final five points for a 25-16 win.

The Mean Moose jumped to a 3-1 lead to start the third set, but the Falcons tied the score at 3-3. Alamosa then took a 7-4 lead, but Centauri rallied again to knot the score at 8-8.

The Mean Moose took a 10-8 edge, but the Falcons scored four in a row to go in front at 12-10. Alamosa answered with a 4-0 run of its own to take a 14-12 lead.

Centauri took a 16-15 lead, but that would be the final time it would be on top as the Mean Moose scored six straight points for a 21-16 advantage.

The Falcons closed to within 21-18, but Alamosa scored four of the final five points to take a 25-19 win.

Ashlyn Rice led the Alamosa offense with 32 assists. Aubrey Rothermich was the top hitter with 13 kills, followed by Laci Christensen with 10, and Arreli Felix and Kadie Hawkins both with six.

The Mean Moose served up 11 aces with Holman leading with four. Leela Gutierrez and Rothermich both had two, and Ashlyn Ride, Addison Rice and Christensen each had one.

The Falcons were led on offense by Kenadie Wilfong with 12 assists. Joselyn McCarroll and Mikasa Gilleland had four kills, and Kynlei Curtis and Analyn Dwyer both had three.

The Falcons had six aces with Joselyn McCarroll, Gilleland and Kenadie Wilfong each with two.

Alamosa (11-1, 3-0) will not play again until next weekend when it travels to Montezuma-Cortez on Sept. 26, and it will host Bayfield on Sept. 27.

“We’ve had a lot of games on the front end,” Mortensen said. “So we’re going to give them some rest.”

Centauri (6-3, 0-1) will travel to Pueblo East on Friday and will host Pagosa Springs on Saturday.

“It was a good atmosphere here today to test us for this weekend,” Chacon said. “Pueblo East tough and they came down and defeated us last year, so we want to go there and work hard. Pagosa is coming to our house and it’s a league game and those are the ones we have to win. We don’t like losing, but I’d rather lose to a good team than a bad team.”