Tucumcari volleyball team improves

The Tucumcari volleyball team showed big improvement this week, notching their first on-court victory of the abbreviated season and giving defending Class 1A champion Logan a tougher match than expected.

The Lady Rattlers prevailed over Santa Rosa 25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23 in a non-district matchup March 16 at the Snake Pit.

“We had some great hustle plays and did better blocking at the net,” Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez said. “The girls have had some close games that have fallen the other way all season. But this game, they finished and played to win.”

Felicity Lopez notched 15 kills against Santa Rosa, and Jayden Martinez totaled 10 assists

The Lady Rattlers earlier in the month notched a season-opening forfeit over Elida, which canceled its game.

Santa Rosa fell to 0-4.

On March 15, the Lady Longhorns won 25-21, 25-14, 25-16 at the Snake Pit in a non-district matchup. Lopez led the Lady Rattlers with eight kills during the match.

For Logan, Kambry Burns noted 10 kills and three blocks. Reece Goldston made 14 assists, and Kyra Conway made 16 digs.

Benavidez was pleased, despite the loss, because her team showed a lot of improvement in its passing, serve-receiving and hitting compared to the previous week.

“We’d been working our our fundamentals and everyone filling their role on the team,” she said. “They’re playing so hard. The dedication and hard work they’re showing on that court is amazing.”

Logan coach Robert Young said he was impressed with Tucumcari’s scrappiness.

“We had moments where I thought we were looking good, and they just stopped us. I think they’re much improved,” he said. “They served well; they found some holes in our serve receive we’re going to have to work on before we get back into district play. We had to make adjustments to get an advantage on them.

“Tucumcari had a lot of energy, and they played us pretty tough most of the match. We had to work for it to win it.”

Lopez’s spikes also impressed Young.

“She’s a smart hitter,” he said. “She was finding holes in our defense.”

Benavidez admitted Logan’s stable of strong hitters put her team at a disadvantage.

“We don’t have as many hitters as they do, and it hurt sometimes,” she said. “Our hitters did what they’re supposed to do; they just get exhausted.”

On Thursday, Tucumcari dropped a road district match to district-leading Dexter 23-25, 13-25, 24-26.

The Lady Rattlers continued to show improvement, compared to their previous loss to the Lady Demons on March 9.

Amber Owen and Lopez each made seven kills during the match for the Lady Rattlers. Gracie Otero made three blocks, and Alexus Lafferty served three aces.

“Every game, our team plays their hearts out,” Benavidez said. “The winning points just fell the opposite way. But I’m still proud of their effort.”

Tucumcari ended the week 2-6 overall, 0-3 in District 4.

Dexter improved to 5-4 overall and 3-0 in district play.