Logan's state hopes extinguished

LOGAN - Melrose extinguished any remaining hopes that Logan would gain a berth in the Class 1A state volleyball tournament by defeating the Lady Longhorns 25-6, 25-11, 22-25, 25-23 during the regular-season finale Saturday.

Logan, which ended the season 6-5 overall and 5-5 in District 6, was a longshot for a postseason bid but had a chance if it had defeated the district-champion Lady Buffaloes and if Clovis Christian had downed Fort Sumner on Saturday. Neither occurred.

Melrose (11-1, 10-0) fended off Logan's hard momentum swing and secured the No. 1 seed when this week's state tourney slate was announced Saturday night. No other area teams made it into the eight-team event, which was reduced from 16 teams because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saturday's loss prevented the Lady Longhorns from a chance to win a fourth straight Class 1A title.

Though pairings weren't announced until hours later, Logan coach Robert Young was certain his team was out of the tournament.

Young also knew even before the season began that a four titles in a row would be difficult.

"I knew it was going to be hard this year" to win another title, Young said. "Everybody else has a lot of people returning, and we lost quite a few."

Young gave his team an end-of-the-season pat on the back after the match.

"I liked the fact in this game, we didn't give up. We battled, and we played hard," he said. "I told them we didn't have a normal season. We had no preseason, we had very little practice, no summer camps because of the virus. For them to improve the way they had was good. I had some young kids playing in places where they had to step up. We were really resilient this year."

Kambry Burns led Logan with eight kills and four blocks against Melrose. Reece Goldston added eight kills.

The Lady Buffs did little wrong in the first two sets, while the Lady Longhorns struggled to get their offense going.

Young used tough love on his four seniors - Burns, Karlee Cantrell, Kindal Smith and Adrienne Stone - during a timeout to help spark his team.

"They were a big part in getting us going because I challenged them," he said. "I let them know they were either going to play or they weren't going to play any more. I told them, 'I guess we can go young.' I guess that got their attention."

Logan also fell behind 11-5 early in the third set and trailed 22-18 late. But the Lady Longhorns ripped off seven unanswered points to take the set.

"We got more aggressive with our serving, and our blocking improved," Young said. "Our hitters started hitting the ball instead trying to tip it so much so (Melrose) would pick it up and hammer it back us.

"And our defense was picking up their hits better; our back row was playing a lot better. For a while there, we were just standing around, looking at each other, waiting for someone else to make a play."

It then became time for Melrose coach Casey Jackson to rally his team between sets and during timeouts.

"Momentum shifted, and I think we got a little frustrated and made some errors we shouldn't have," he said. "But Logan was playing hard, and they made us earn it.

"We talked about how frustration kills progress, and when you get frustrated, you can't shift momentum back. We just tried to work on one point at a time in our own game and not let external factors get to us."

Logan raced to a 10-2 lead in the fourth set, but the Lady Buffs whittled that away with its own 10-2 run.

The Lady Longhorns had a 23-22 lead in the set, but lost it on a net violation and junior Jayda Brittenum, who led Melrose with 11 kills, making a block to give her team the lead.

"She's come a long way," Jackson said of Brittenum. "It's only in her second year of playing volleyball. She's put in a lot of work and has gotten better. Her hard work is paying off."

A Logan passing error gave the set and match to Melrose.

Clovis Christian 3, Logan 0

Logan suffered a 15-25, 22-25, 26-28 district loss Thursday at Clovis Christian that damaged the Lady Longhorns' chances to earn a postseason berth.

"We didn't play well," Young said. "We made a lot of unforced errors, and we could not serve. Serving has been our Achilles' heel. And we didn't attack well.

"And Clovis looked good; they got after us. And it seemed like everything they were doing worked. And I was making changes during that match, and none of it worked."

Grady 3, San Jon 1

San Jon finished its season Friday with a 26-24, 20-25, 17-25, 4-25 loss at Grady.

Though the Coyotes squad finished the abbreviated season 0-10, they won their first set of the year - one of their goals - against the rival Bronchos, coach Jaree Elliott said.

"The future is bright for this young team, and even though this season was short, the girls grew tremendously," Elliott said. "We are in the toughest district in 1A ball without a doubt, and that makes it hard to snag many victories on the scoreboard for a young and inexperienced team.

"However, looking at the scores of my matches, my team was never one to be labeled as a team that the others could overlook. Senior leadership was a big part of our team's success and drive this year, and I'm thankful for Nataya Archuleta and Bailey Montoya and their experience, leadership and drive this year."

Grady finished the year 4-6, all of them district matches.

Logan 3, San Jon 0

Rilee Nials made nine kills for Logan during the Lady Longhorns' 25-20, 25-22, 25-15 win March 22 over visiting San Jon.

Nials also had two blocks and 10 assists during the match. Cantrell had five kills, and Goldston totaled five kills, five aces and 19 assists.

For San Jon, Montoya totaled five kills and three blocks, and Chantzee Elliott had five kills and three aces. Sarah Archuleta added 13 digs and 10 assists.

"The girls keep improving, with that begin the best game to date," Elliott said. "Stats show me that everyone is producing improved numbers in their job on the court. Logan played very scrappy and had some amazing serves, but I felt like we match their scrappiness but just came up short."