Lady Rattlers pull off dominating victory against Pecos

The Lady Rattlers pulled off a rarity in volleyball – all 11 players on the varsity roster registered a kill during a dominating 25-10, 25-14, 25-9 victory Thursday against visiting Pecos.

Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez knew her team had spread the wealth against the Lady Panthers, but didn't know how thoroughly until she checked the statistics the next day.

"I was just like, that has never happened where every player reported a kill," the sixth-year coach wrote in a text Friday.

Amber Owen, overcoming a slow start, led the Lady Rattlers with nine kills. Caylee Benavidez was next with six kills, and Madison Dysart added four.

Owen struggled with her hitting early in the first set. Benavidez took her off the floor briefly and gave her some encouragement.

"Sometimes players need to take a breath, refocus, come back in and execute," coach Benavidez said. "I told her to keep playing. She's an all-district hitter, and she knows how to hit. I told her to play, swing and don't be afraid of making a mistake."

In all, Tucumcari totaled 30 kills to Pecos' five.

"We hit the ball really well tonight, all our hitters," Benavidez said. "We got lots of players lots of hits. That really helped us out."

Benavidez also credited her team's defense and daughter Caylee's sets to many of her teammates.

"She mixed it up and gave everybody a lot of touches," she said.

She also credited her team's strong serving that kept Pecos off-balance much of the match. Tucumcari totaled 12 aces or near-aces.

Tucumcari, snapping a four-game skid, improved to 5-9 overall. Pecos fell to 3-8.

Benavidez said her team looked much better Thursday following a loss to Fort Sumner two days before.

"We worked on everything we struggled on Tuesday night – covering, blocking and running our offense," Benavidez said.

Before the match, Tucumcari players gave gift boxes to the daughters of longtime fan Tommy Jones, who died recently. One of those daughters is assistant coach Jamie Jones-Salvador.

Fort Sumner 3, Tucumcari 0

The Lady Rattlers hadn't played in two weeks due to a COVID-19 quarantine, and it showed during a 14-25, 14-25, 18-25 loss Oct. 5 against a stout Fort Sumner squad.

Tucumcari had trouble getting its offense untracked during the match. The team's top hitter, Owen, totaled only a team-high four kills; she typically has double or triple that. Other players suffered similar drop-offs.

"Having 10 days of no practice and then just two days of practice before our first game, it affects your team," Benavidez said. "We couldn't get any rhythm. We struggled at positions we normally didn't struggle with."

Meanwhile, the Vixens (9-3) kept the Lady Rattlers on their heels with three strong hitters. Olivia Lucero led Fort Sumner with 10 kills, and Abby Moyer added seven kills, four blocks and two aces. Kristen Moyer totaled six kills and five aces.

Before the match, Tucumcari athletic director Wayne Ferguson requested a moment of silence for three spouses of former and current Tucumcari Public Schools employees who recently died.

Fort Sumner 3, Logan 0

A red-hot Fort Sumner squad damaged Logan's chances for a district title by defeating the visiting Lady Longhorns 25-15, 25-20, 26-24 on Saturday.

The Vixens, winners of nine in a row, improved to 11-3 overall and 3-0 in District 6, jumping into a first-place tie with undefeated Melrose.

"We never could get going and played tight," Logan coach Robert Young said. "Their serving kept us on the defense most of the match. We also struggled with our passing and serving."

Logan fell to 11-4, 2-1. The Lady Longhorns face Fort Sumner again on Thursday, this time in Logan.

Logan 3, Grady 1

Logan prevailed on the road with a 25-17, 25-14, 22-25, 25-9 district victory Thursday at Grady.

"It's always nice to get a win on the road in this district," Young said. "Grady played well throughout most of the match."

Grady fell to 2-9, 0-2.

San Jon 3, Clovis Christian 0

San Jon cruised to a 25-7, 25-17, 25-16 district victory Friday over Clovis Christian.

Lady Coyotes coach Jaree Elliott said Bailey McEwen was key to winning the match.

"She served strong, and when she was in the back line, she kept them on their heels," she said. "(Clovis Christian) was not quite awake but came alive in the second set, and it took us several points to realize we needed to play our game. So then we picked it up."

San Jon improved to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in district play.

Clovis Christian ended the week 2-8, 0-3.

Fort Sumner 3, San Jon 0

San Jon took it on the chin during its district opener with a 11-25, 13-25, 14-25 loss Thursday to host Fort Sumner.

"Fort Sumner is a very systematic team with some amazing hitters," Elliott said. "My girls were intimidated for sure, but they fought back and played hard and even got a couple of big blocks. It was good to see what they're capable of.

"We got to where we were reading their offense better and we had some really big hits. We struggled with our servers more than we have in quite some time."