Bell, knock on wood, has come full circle after undergoing an arduous series of chemotherapy and radiation treatments in 2008 in what has been her successful battle against breast cancer. She was full of pep and was all smiles as she guided the North team to an easy 2-0 (25-18, 25-15) victory at the North-South Class 3A/4A All-Stars Volleyball Match at the University of New Mexico's Johnson Center on Tuesday.

"I feel great," Bell said with a chuckle. "I was just talking to Jane Leupold, (Las Cruces coach Keith) Leupold's wife. I told her this is the best I've felt in two years. I don't know, but maybe that'll be a good thing for the (Pintos) this season."

Bell was aided by Moriarty assistants Lisa Thomas and Savannah Burnett at the all-stars event, which was sponsored by the New Mexico High School Coaches Association. The exhibition pitted the best of the state's graduated seniors against each other.

"It was more relaxed (than a regular-season game)," said Thomas, who will begin her eighth year as a Pintos assistant this fall. "They're great kids."

"We had a lot of fun," added Burnett, a fourth-year assistant. "We didn't know what to expect, but we enjoyed the last three days (including the practices)."

But nary a Moriarty athlete was on the all-stars roster this year.

"We had a couple of girls who I had hoped would be selected, but it just didn't happen," said Bell, whose Pintos in previous years were well-represented at the all-stars celebration.

As the two all-star squads took the floor Tuesday, the North's across-the-board height superiority was the first indication the South was in for a shellacking.

"I don't think the teams were really balanced," Bell said. "But in a match like this, you never can tell (beforehand). There were some good players from Goddard and Roswell (playing for the South). It's just that we didn't have any weaknesses."

The North had a commanding 20-7 lead in the second game of the best two-out-of-three match when Bell pulled her tall lineup and inserted, en masse, the end of her bench.

"You like to get all the girls playing time in a game like this," the coach said. "We had the best players from every team, and we brought them together. That was just a treat. We had them for three days. We had two practices on Sunday, two on Monday, and one (Tuesday) morning."

The South took advantage and closed to within nine at 20-11 on back-to-back kills from Goddard's Halie Harton and Silver's Jazmin Terry. But the North's Ashley Newman, a 5-foot-9 St. Pius alumna, then re-entered the contest, and the South could get no closer.

Taylor Yagow, who was a 5-7 setter for the Sartans, got match point with a kill swatted down the middle. Newman concluded the first game by smashing an attempt, which was successfully defended, but the dig bounded back up and hung invitingly above the net, and Newman pounded it home for game point.

Samantha Brown, a 6-1 St. Pius middle hitter, had a big brace on her knee, but she still dominated the action with six kills, two blocks and two aces, according to the Telegraph's score book. Newman contributed eight kills, Las Vegas Robertson's Jasmine Harge provided two kills, and Del Norte's Jackie Stockton, Pojoaque Valley's Dionna Montoya, Aztec's Alexis Bohannon and Yagow had one apiece.

The DNHS Knights had a special relationship with the Pintos. They even presented Bell a check after a fund-raising effort to help her with her medical expenses during the 2008 season.

"Our whole team was close with Moriarty, and especially with coach Bell," Stockton said. "We were competitive, but we were still close. It think all-stars was fun. She's a good coach. But this was my last game. I'm going to (Central New Mexico Community College) to study cosmetology. It's a family business, and that's what I'm going to do."

Del Norte coach Andrea Quintana was also one of Bell's all-stars assistants.

"We are close, and I was so pleased that she asked me to help her," Quintana said. "She wants to win, regardless of the situation. She liked the kids, and worked to their strengths."

Bell's Pintos, who won state in 2007 and 2008, will host the Moriarty Tournament on Sept. 3-4. Alicia Pope, formerly an assistant coach at Estancia, will also be one of Bell's assistants this year.

"We're going to the Rio Rancho Jamboree (camp) next week," said Bell, who starts her ninth year this fall. "Well, we have our (youth) camp and then Rio Rancho. Rio Rancho is (Aug. 6-7). That'll be five camps."

Bell's varsity returners include two seniors, Jasmine Quintana and Ashlea Ortiz.

"We have a lot of work to do," Bell said. "But I think we can have a very good team."