More than victories

Mia Arevalo had to watch her teammates get better without her. A high ankle sprain sidelined the Mesilla Valley Christian School senior volleyball player for five weeks, taking away a significant portion of her final season. While she wanted desperately to get back on the court, something else was happening.

Her teammates were growing, learning to win without her.

"At first it was hard to accept that," Arevalo admitted. "But after coming back, I was like, you know what? Like, they grew for the better, and they learned how to do so much without me, and I'm glad to be a part of it again."

It was a lesson in patience, humility and teamwork, precisely the kind of growth first-year SonBlazers coach Krystal Ceniceros believes matters more than anything on a volleyball scoreboard. That's saying something coming from a woman who knows plenty about winning.

A Mayfield High School graduate who won state championships in volleyball and basketball, Ceniceros became an All-American libero at New Mexico State University during one of the most successful periods in the program's history. She was inducted into the Aggies' Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019. But after years away from the sport, she has returned to coaching with a different perspective.

"These girls are, most of the girls are not going to go and play D1 and be professional volleyball players," she said. "That’s not the end goal."

Instead, Ceniceros wants to help prepare them for adulthood, teaching discipline, accountability and the ability to navigate adversity. Her own journey has provided plenty of perspective.

Raised in Doña Ana, Ceniceros originally considered basketball her primary sport before choosing to play volleyball for longtime NMSU coach Mike Jordan. After graduating with a degree in kinesiology, she passed up an opportunity to pursue professional volleyball overseas and joined the coaching staff at the University of North Dakota.

But after approximately two and a half years coaching collegiately, her priorities changed. A deepening commitment to her Christian faith led her to reconsider a career that demanded extensive travel and time away from home. She eventually returned to Las Cruces, married her husband, Jacob, and spent much of the next eight years raising their children. She also became a physical therapy assistant, a profession she continues to practice part time.

Last year, with her youngest child growing older, Ceniceros returned to volleyball as Mayfield's junior varsity coach. She wasn't planning to take another position when the Mesilla Valley Christian opening emerged. But the school's emphasis on faith, mentorship and character development appealed to her.

After considerable prayer and discussion with her husband, who now serves as her assistant coach, she accepted the job.

"I'm very black and white," she said of her coaching philosophy. "I don't like to beat around the bush. I don't like to play games, but I'm also here to challenge you and build your character."

That philosophy has been tested throughout a difficult season. Four starters were sidelined by injuries during the summer, and another suffered a torn ACL during the season. Just as the SonBlazers began getting healthy, another setback seemed to arrive.

"It's been challenging," Ceniceros said. "It's been really great, but it has been challenging."

Yet she believes those difficulties may ultimately become one of the team's greatest strengths.

"That's the best way to grow and mature is to go through adversity," she said. "If everything's easy, then you don't, when going gets tough, you don't really show up."

Arevalo learned that lesson from the sidelines.

"It's really hard to just sit out and just watch when you know you can go out and help," she said.

But she discovered ways to contribute through encouragement and by studying the game from a different perspective.

Senior Julia Black, a defensive specialist and libero, has found another connection with Ceniceros, who played the same position at NMSU. Black appreciates her coach's understanding of the position's demanding mental and physical responsibilities.

"If you make a mistake, you have to shake it off really quickly because the game keeps going," Black said. "The game can't stop because you made a mistake."

Arevalo said Ceniceros has helped the team develop that mental toughness while also understanding the emotional side of competition.

"I would say mental stuff in volleyball is like 50% of it," she said. "And I feel like we've all grown."

The SonBlazers enter this week's Class 2A state tournament as the No. 4 seed, having earned a first-round bye in the 12-team field. With injured players returning, the team is still working to find its rhythm. But Ceniceros hopes the difficult journey has prepared her players for the challenges ahead.

"We've dealt with all this early on and throughout the season, and we're only going to be better for it," she said.

The opportunity to finish her senior season alongside teammates who learned to succeed without her has become a victory of its own for Arevalo. And Ceniceros? Whatever happens at the state tournament, those are the lessons she hopes her players will carry with them long after the final point.