Tucumcari takes five-set win over NMMI

Facing match serve by their opponent, Tucumcari's volleyball team on Thursday turned to its two best hitters to rally for three straight points in a five-set win over New Mexico Military Institute that kept alive the Lady Rattlers' chances for a district title.

Senior Madison Dysart notched a kill to tie the fifth and deciding set at 16 points apiece. Then senior Amber Owen knocked down two straight kills to secure the 25-9, 25-20, 21-25, 14-25, 18-16 victory that took two hours to complete and featured wild momentum swings at the Snake Pit.

Owen totaled a match-high 16 kills, including five in the critical fifth set. Dysart notched 14 kills as Tucumcari improved to 7-11 and 1-1 in Class 3A's District 4.

"I'm so proud of our team tonight. For them to fight back shows how much they wanted it, how much they wanted to win," Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez said.

The Lady Rattlers, which lost a five-set match earlier in the week at Dexter, face a crucial district rematch with the Lady Demons at home this Thursday.

NMMI fell to 4-14, 0-1.

The Lady Rattlers at one point trailed 12-8 in the fifth set but inched their way back to tie it, with their fans rejoicing or moaning, depending on the outcome of each precious point.

Olive Amechi looked like she would be the hero for the Lady Colts, notching five of her team-high 13 kills during the set.

Tucumcari took a 15-14 lead after a kill by Izabela Reid. Amechi responded with two straight kills to give NMMI back a 16-15 advantage.

Benavidez took a timeout to regroup her squad.

"I told them they just have to believe in themselves and know that they could win," she recalled telling them in the huddle.

Dysart notched a kill to tie the set again, then Owen spiked two more kills to give her team the win.

"We gave the ball to our strongest hitter, and she did what she needed to do," Benavidez said of Owen. "Both of our outside hitters, Madison and Amber, came through in that fifth set."

"In game five, it came down to whoever had the fuel in their tank," NMMI coach Violeta Konculic said. "Both teams had multiple chances to finish early, but (Tucumcari) had a little more fuel in the tank."

NMMI looked out of sorts during the lopsided first set, scoring only three kills.

Konculic said her team has been a slow starter all year.

"I think that – and this is something we've been fighting the entire season – is this team wakes up after the first set, the second set is over," she said. "They just need a little bit to warm up, and most of these girls are new to varsity, so for them, there's a lot of pressure."

The Lady Colts gained confidence after the second set by mixing their attack with dinks and spikes.

"I told them between game two and three, 'This is your last chance. I need you to fight.' And they fought," Konculic said.

Serving problems contributed to Tucumcari's woes in the third and fourth sets. The Lady Rattlers committed 17 service errors during the match, compared to NMMI's seven.

Dexter 3, Tucumcari 2

Tucumcari dropped a marathon match at district foe Dexter by a 25-18, 15-25, 25-20, 23-25, 13-15 score on Oct. 19.

"We had some service errors in the sets we lost, and that hurt us," Benavidez said. "We didn't block as well as we normally do. We had only one block the whole night. We couldn't get a flow, and we dug ourselves a hole several times."

Dexter ended the week with a 3-15 record but 1-0 in the district.

The Lady Demons this week go to NMMI on Tuesday and at Tucumcari on Thursday before finishing their district schedule Nov. 4 at home against NMMI.