Photos by Stephen Jiron Sangre de Cristo’s Jordyn Cantu (10) digs in to keep the T-Birds hot against McClave Friday afternoon. The Thunderbirds suffered their eliminating loss against Fleming Friday night.

DENVER— Thursday got off to a rough start for the Sangre de Cristo Thunderbirds (18-10), as they took on the fifth seeded Merino Rams.
Sangre came out hot and looked poised for an upset registering a 25-20 win in set number one. But then the T-Birds cooled, and Merino took the next three sets to hand Sangre a loss.
With the night off to refocus, Sangre responded. Friday afternoon against McClave the T-Birds got off on the right foot claiming a 7-4 lead. Later Jessica Slane got a big block to force a side out and claim a 22-18 lead. Sangre would pace the Cardinals to the 25-20 conclusion of the first.
The Thunderbirds kept their foot on the gas in the second set taking a 9-4 lead where MaKenzie Rogers logged back-to-back kills to make it a 11-4 lead. Sangre kept the fire alive to 25-19 giving them a two-set lead. McClave felt the urgency and pushed in set number three. While Merino was successful in making the game go beyond the 25-point mark Sangre still cemented set three to even up their playoff record at 1-1.
Friday night Sangre looked to keep their season alive and after falling behind two sets to Fleming they answered with two of their own. But Sangre just couldn’t keep up and the T-Birds were sunk in the fifth set making their second loss of the title competition.