Portales' Kelsey Laurenz, left, and Gabby Garcia go for the block against Clovis junior Paige Gardner in the first game of Tuesday's night match at Portales gym. The Lady Rams beat Clovis in four games.

Clovis High junior middle hitter Alek Mendoza returns a shot while Portales junior Kelsey Laurenz attempts to block her during the first game of Tuesday's night match at Portales.

The Portales Lady Rams got strong outings at the net from juniors Macy Mitchell and Danae Garza and posted a 25-13, 26-24, 16-25, 25-14 win over Clovis High on Tuesday.

Mitchell, who had eight kills and Garza were each credited with 12 blocks in the contest.

“I thought we came out and played well,” PHS coach Ruth Chavez said. “I thought we did well and played a fast-paced game.”

After Portales (4-3) held off a late Clovis rally in the second game for a 2-0 lead, the Lady Wildcats bounced back with a strong third game. The Lady Rams, though, took control early in Game 4 to close it out.

“We never really got into a rhythm,” Clovis coach Gabe Apodaca said. “We got behind early in that second game, and just started trading points. We just dug too big a hole.”

Portales, which lost to the Lady Cats in the season-opening Clovis Invitational, was able to find holes in the Clovis front line this time. Portales opened a 6-1 lead in the fourth game, and the Lady Rams never looked back.

“We wanted our outside hitters to go mainly down the line,” Portales senior setter Megan Chambers said. “Clovis can’t cover the line really good, so we were telling the hitters to go down the line and they placed it there.”

Senior Gabby Garcia had nine kills, one ace and five digs in the match for Portales, while Mitchell also had four digs.