Logan advances to state

LOGAN - Advancing to the state volleyball tournament wasn't supposed to be this easy.

Logan's three previous matches against Melrose, ranked No. 1 in Class 1A in the MaxPreps.com all season, took at least four sets to determine an outcome, and two required five-set marathons.

But on Saturday, Logan defeated the Lady Buffaloes in three sets - 25-21, 28-26, 25-10 - to capture the Class 6-1A district title and advance to this week's state tourney in Rio Rancho. Another local team, Grady/San Jon, also earned a berth to state.

Logan begins the state tournament with pool play starting at 10:30 a.m. Thursday against Grady/San Jon and Santa Fe Waldorf at Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho. First-round play then begins that afternoon after seeding. The quarterfinals and semifinals begin Friday at Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, with the championship at 10 a.m. Saturday at the same venue.

The Lady Longhorns improved to 18-3 overall with their 12th straight win. Melrose fell to 19-3, with all its losses to Logan. But Melrose's three-set defeat Saturday was the most surprising of all, including to Logan's coach.

"I wasn't expecting that," Lady Longhorns coach Robert Young said, "but I'm glad we got one. I thought we'd have another five-setter."

Logan owned a height advantage against Melrose that proved crucial in attacking and especially blocking.

"We couldn't get a kill," Melrose coach Casey Jackson said. "We couldn't get past their blocks tonight."

Young said it wasn't just blocks that led his team to victory.

"Our serve-receive and our passing overall were much better," he said. "That's what made the difference."

Logan won the first set despite seven serving errors. But the Lady Longhorns also made four serving aces and several blocks for points to keep Melrose off-balance.

The second set proved more nip-and-tuck, with neither team holding more than a three-point advantage.

Three times, Melrose owned late leads where just one point more would have closed the set. Each time, Logan fought back to tie it.

Finally, Karli Webb pounded down a kill to give Logan a 27-26 lead. Then Logan executed a block the Lady Buffaloes couldn't field to take the second set.

Melrose seemed deflated after that and fell behind 11-1 in the third set, despite two timeouts by Jackson in an effort to regroup.

"We should have come back and competed better," he said. "We've never fallen apart like that before. We should have won that second set and didn't. It happens. We've got to lean to adapt and get through that."

Young agreed the second-set loss demoralized Melrose.

"I think that did take the air out of them because we'd been splitting sets all year," he said. "I thought maybe (Melrose) thought they had that one won, and we took it away from them."

Melrose 3, Grady/San Jon 0

Grady/San Jon 3, Fort Sumner 1

Grady/San Jon was eliminated Thursday from the Class 6-1A district tournament with a 25-10, 25-6, 25-19 loss at second-seed Melrose.

The Lady Bronchos fell to 12-8 overall, with three of their losses to the Lady Buffaloes and three to tournament top seed Logan.

Lady Bronchos coach Rebecca Burns said her team had a tough task against the Lady Buffaloes.

"Their serve-receive was excellent. They had a great game against us," she said. "I thought we played well Thursday; it just took a while for us to show up."

On Nov. 6, Grady/San Jon eliminated Fort Sumner from the tournament with a 25-16, 25-7, 25-14 victory.

Yara Sotelo led the Lady Bronchos with 10 kills and 21 digs during the Fort Sumner match. Teryne Foote had nine kills, and Leah Starbuck made 16 assists.