State Volleyball Postseason Begins in Rio Rancho, Local Venues Host

The New Mexico high school volleyball postseason kicked off the week of November 11, 2025 with matches staged at multiple Rio Rancho area venues, bringing a statewide tournament footprint into Sandoval County. The Class 4A state tournament held opening round play at the Rio Rancho Events Center, Cleveland High School, Rio Rancho High School and Bernalillo High School, while the larger event schedule included seeded pairings and match times for the first rounds. Among the teams competing was Kirtland Central from San Juan County, joining squads from across the state for the early rounds.

Tournament organizers published match pairings, seedings, and scheduled start times for opening matches, allowing players and fans to plan travel and attendance. The postseason followed a double elimination format, meaning teams must lose twice before being eliminated. That structure gave teams a margin for error and extended the number of meaningful matches at each site, increasing the value of each game for athletes and supporters.

The Rio Rancho Events Center served as a primary host site and was used for multiple classifications during the opening rounds. Concentrating several classifications at one arena allowed tournament officials to centralize staffing and court operations, while neighborhood high schools kept match activity close to local communities. For Sandoval County residents, the mix of venues offered both the convenience of nearby high school gyms and the capacity of a larger arena for marquee matchups.

Local implications extended beyond the court. Bringing postseason play to the Rio Rancho area concentrated visitors, team delegations and families in town for several days. That influx tends to boost demand for dining and lodging near the events, and it increases weekday and weekend foot traffic for businesses around the arenas and high schools. For volunteers, school staff and municipal service teams, the schedule required coordination around parking, security and facility management for concurrent sessions across sites.

For fans planning to attend, the posted schedule and seedings provided the practical details needed to choose which session to follow and where to park. The double elimination bracket also meant that a team losing an early match could still return for consolation or elimination games, so supporters tracking a local program had incentive to follow the full bracket throughout the week.

As the postseason progressed beyond the opening rounds, results from the Rio Rancho area sites would determine which teams advanced in the double elimination brackets and which returned to their home communities. Hosting state tournament play within Sandoval County underscored the role of local venues in the high school sports calendar and the short term economic and community engagement benefits that accompany playoff events.