Lady Rattlers fall to Santa Rosa

Tucumcari's volleyball squad opened the season with losses against perennial area power Melrose and Route 66 rival Santa Rosa.

On Saturday in Santa Rosa, the Lady Rattlers fell 8-25, 19-25, 22-25.

Despite the loss, Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez said she saw improvement from the previous match, including better play in the final two sets against the Lady Lions (2-0).

"We passed well, but we couldn't get the ball down to score," she said. "Santa Rosa is a good defensive team, and they picked up a lot on what we did."

Jasmine Jones scored 9 kills for the Lady Rattlers, and Lenora Trujillo made 3 blocks. Elyse Chavez led the Lady Lions with 11 kills.

Tucumcari's junior varsity defeated Santa Rosa in three sets.

During the Melrose match Thursday at the Snake Pit, the defending state champion Buffaloes showed more consistency in attacking at the net and kept the Lady Rattlers on their heels during their 7-25, 14-25, 17-25 loss.

The only lead Tucumcari held during the match was 7-6 during the third set. "We had first-game jitters," Benavidez said. "We have to fix the little mistakes. We're going to have to keep improving our passing and servicing and playing to win by putting the ball down.

"Our hitters, Jasmine Jones and Aaliyah Brown, hit good when they were able to attack. We have to give them chances to attack."

Tucumcari's junior varsity lost to Melrose 22-25, 25-15, 15-17.

Tucumcari's C team defeated Melrose in two sets.

San Jon/Grady drops opener

The San Jon/Grady volleyball team lost its season-opener on the road Saturday at Des Moines 17-25, 20-25, 19-25.

Yara Sotelo led San Jon/Grady with 10 kills, while teammates Teryne Foote and Morgan Becerra each logged eight kills. Becerra also had five blocks, and Leah Starbuck made 11 digs.