Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Tucumcari volleyball team’s first week of district play was not ideal.
The Lady Rattlers suffered losses to Dexter and New Mexico Military Institute during the opening week of their District 4 schedule last week. Tucumcari fell to 1-4 overall.
Tucumcari totaled only 13 kills during its district-opening match against Dexter on March 9 at the Snake Pit, which was indicative of the Lady Rattlers’ erratic offense.
Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez said her squad has to be more consistent in executing its passes, sets and hits.
“We’ve got to put three together,” she said. “Sometimes we’ll have a good pass, then an off set, or we’ll have a good pass and set, then an off hit. We’ve got to get all three; we’ve got to get a rhythm together. We’re also going to try to improve our blocking and our coverage a little bit better.”
Benavidez acknowledged that inexperience plays a role in her team’s troubles.
“It’s a fairly new squad,” she said. “I can’t say my girls don’t hustle, though. We just have to put it together.”
Felicity Lopez led the Lady Rattlers with four kills. Amber Owen and Gracie Otero totaled three kills each.
Dexter, which ended the week 3-3, looked vastly improved from a team that finished 6-16 overall last season. The Lady Demons’ steadiness served them well, enabling them to come from behind in the first and second games to win.
“We kind of started off slow, but the girls started playing like they can,” Dexter coach Larry VanderBout said. “As a coach, you’re happy when you see that.”
On Thursday, Tucumcari came agonizingly close but dropped a game to NMMI at Roswell by a 23-25, 24-26, 25-27 score.
“We played well. The games just fell the other way,” Benavidez said. “We had some big digs out of the back row from Alexus Lafferty. But we had seven service errors in the third set that hurt us, which we usually don’t have.”
Lopez led the Lady Rattlers with 12 kills, and Caylee Benavidez went 17-for-18 serving during the match.
The Broncos improved to 3-3 overall.