Rattlers pull Santa Fe split

The Lady Rattlers volleyball team came away with a lot of positives from their split wins Saturday during the Santa Fe Indian tournament bracket play, said Dana Benavidez, Tucumcari head coach.

Benavidez said the Lady Rattlers, 3-8, beat Zuni in three sets and lost to Dulce in three sets. She said both matches gave the team insights into the areas they still need improvement.

“Our passing was much better in both games, yet our service errors were an area of concern,” Benavidez said.

Benavidez said the Lady Rattlers know they need to focus during the next week to improve as much as possible. She said match ups with Raton and Penasco separate them from the start of district play.

“You can not afford to commit errors against teams like Santa Rosa,” Benavidez said.

The Lady Lions (10-1) will be the first district match for the Lady Rattlers on Oct. 12 at Santa Rosa.

The Lady Longhorns (10-2) dropped their second game of the season on Sept. 14 to the Lady Lions at Santa Rosa.

“The loss to Santa Rosa was a good mental test for the Lady Longhorns,” said Robert Young, Logan head coach.

Young said the Lady Longhorns lost 3-1 to the Lady Lions, a loss that included a controversial call on a set match point. He said the initial call was Santa Rosa’s hit was out, the officials ruled Logan had won 30-28. However, following a discussion by the line judge the official reversed the call and ruled the serve be replayed, Young said.

“The Lady Lions won that third set 32-30, the momentum was completely shifted away from Logan to Santa Rosa favor,” Young said. “You tell your players they have to put it behind them, but you could tell the call, set loss was still very much on their mind.”

Young said Santa Rosa beat them in four, the game overall was one of the best challenges for the Lady Longhorns to date. He said the team will have to learn from this experience, one that will prepare them to overcome mental distractions and not allow one instance to affect their play.

Young said district is what the Lady Longhorns have been preparing for, the new season against a tough district Dora, Fort Sumner and Mountainair. He said district play begins on Saturday with a home game against Mountainair.

“It’s time to get down to business, all of the preparation, hardships and wins have been building to this,” Young said.

The Lady Coyotes continue to work on improving while adjusting to being without one of their starting middle hitters in the start of district play, said Jaree Elliott, San Jon head coach.

“The girls have done a great job of adjusting to a missing starter, while communicating on the court,” Elliott said.

Elliott said the Lady Coyotes, 4-6, 0-1, were without starter, Baylee Montoya, in their first district loss Saturday to Floyd. She said most likely San Jon will be without Montoya when they travel Thursday to play the Lady Tigers, who are off to an 8-0 start.

“The team has been making great strides as the season has been unfolding,” Elliott said. “We are hopeful to get Montoya back, put all the pieces together in the midst of district play.”

Schedule

Thursday

• 4 p.m., Logan at Clayton

• 5:30 p.m., San Jon at Elida

Friday

• 5 p.m., Tucumcari at Penasco

Saturday

• 2 p.m., Mountainair at Logan