Raton tops Tucumcari in four

Raton and Tucumcari made plenty of mistakes during their volleyball match. It was the Lady Rattlers who made a few more of them during a 25-27, 25-18, 18-25, 16-25 loss Thursday night at the Snake Pit.

In the fourth and deciding game, Tucumcari (1-8) fell behind 21-12 and never quite recovered. In the first game, the trailing Lady Rattlers rallied for a 5-0 run to take a 25-24 lead but surrendered the next three points, including the clincher.

Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez was frustrated by her team's mistakes.

"Normally, we're pretty good at passing, but we struggled with it tonight," she said. "They have to still do the fundamentals every single time, whether they're down or whether they're up.

"We're going to keep trying to improve and set our eyes on district (play)."

Tucumcari's district games begin late October with two matches each against Dexter and Tularosa. The district tournament begins in early November.

The only time Tucumcari seemed to show consistency was the second game. The Lady Rattlers started it by forging a 7-1 lead, then going on a 9-1 run midway through to seize control.

The Tigers (1-1) had an excuse for their mistakes - they were playing only their second match of the season.

"We have some work to do, but all in all, we didn't do that bad," Raton coach Tina Dorrance said. "I saw some good things, and I saw some things we need to work on."

Using a height advantage - especially with middle hitter Kerrigan Weese - Raton kept Tucumcari on the defensive with its blocks and spikes.

"My middle stepped up, and that's something we didn't have in our last game," Dorrance said.

Raton defeated Tucumcari 26-24, 25-9 during the junior-varsity match.