SANFORD – The top-ranked Sanford High School volleyball team had a tough battle when it hosted Del Norte Saturday at the SHS gym.

The Mustangs won the first two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-23, but had a hard time finishing the match as the Tigers won the next two sets, 25-23 and 25-18.

Sanford finally prevailed by winning the fifth set 15-9.

“There were way too many mistakes on our part,” said Sanford coach Melissa Faucette. “But we’ll clean it up.”

“It was a battle,” said Del Norte coach Chance Canty. “It was a fun game to be a part of.”

Del Norte scored the first two point of the opening set, but Sanford came back to tie the score at 3-3. The team exchanged the next seven side outs before the Mustangs went on a 6-0 run to take a 12-7 lead.

The Tigers closed to within 12-9, but Sanford increased its lead to 19-12.

Del Norte then went on a 4-0 run to reduce its deficit to 19-16. However, the Mustangs scored six of the final eight points to take the first set 25-18.

Sanford began the second set by scoring the first four points with Bella Peterson slamming two kills. Del Norte cut the lead in half, but the Mustangs scored three straight points for a 7-2 lead.

The Tigers went on a 7-1 rally to deadlock the score at 8-8. However, Sanford went on a 10-3 run with Peterson recording three kills, and Jewel Caldon with two, to take an 18-11 advantage.

The Mustangs pushed their lead to 23-16 before Del Norte went on a 7-1 run to close within 24-23. Brynley Brown had two kills in the run.

However, a Del Norte hitting error gave the second set to Sanford, 25-23.

The Mustangs scored the first two points of the third set, but the Tigers ran off six consecutive points. Sanford lcosed to within 6-5, however, Del Norte increased its lead to 12-8.

The Mustangs came back to tie the score at 18-18 before the Tigers scored five unanswered points to take a 23-18 advantage.

Sanford went on a 5-1 run to narrow the gap to 24-23. But a Mustangs service error gave the third set to Del Norte 25-23.

The Tigers began the fourth set by scoring the first point, however, the Mustangs rallied to take a 4-3 edge. Del Norte then scored nine of the next 14 points to regain the lead at 12-9.

Sanford came back to cut the deficit to 14-13, but the Tigers stretched the lead to 16-13. The Mustangs had a brief side out before Del Norte scored seven straight points to extend its lead to 23-14.

Sanford went on a 4-1 run to close within 24-18, but another service error gave Del Norte a 25-18 win to tie the match at two sets apiece.

The Mustangs scored the first point of the fifth set and eventually increased the advantage to 9-4. The Tigers closed to within 9-7, but Sanford scored six of the final eight points for a 15-9 win.

Sanford was led offensively by Avery Koenig with 40 assists. Peterson led the hitting game with 18 kills, followed by Caldon with 13, Claire Crowther with 12, and Koenig and Lettie Larson both with six.

The Mustangs had five service errors with Koenig leading with two.

Naylie Velasguez led Del Norte with 22 assists and Caleigh Sierra had 18. Brown was the Tigers’ top hitter with 17 kills, followed by Emma Parra and Makenzie Consaul both with nine, and Addie Roepke with eight.

The Tigers served up five aces and they were led by Julia Trujillo with two.

Sanford (6-0, 2-0) will host La Veta on Thursday at 5 p.m. and will travel to Trinidad on Saturday at 1 p.m.

“It will be two good games,” Faucette said. “We’ll go get them and play hard.”

Del Norte (3-3, 0-1) will travel to Bayfield on Thursday with the varsity match scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m.

“I don’t know much about them, but we’re going to compete and do our job,” Canty said.