Four earn all-district honors

Four players from Tucumcari’s district-champ volleyball team earned District 3A-4 honors this week.

Honored are senior outside hitter Amber Owen, senior outside hitter Madison Dysart, junior libero Alexus Lafferty and freshman setter Caylee Benavidez.

Tucumcari (9-12) tied with Dexter for the most all-district players, with four. New Mexico Military Institute had three all-district players.

The Lady Rattlers this season captured their first district title since 1979 with a 3-1 mark, edging Dexter’s identical mark in head-to-head play.

Owen led Tucumcari with 255 kills and at one point ranked in the top three in Class 3A in that category. She also totaled 36 serving aces, 141 digs and eight blocks. Owen also was named MaxPreps.com’s Player of the Week in New Mexico last month.

Dysart totaled 60 kills, 29 aces, 78 digs and boasted a high serving percentage of 91.4%.

Lafferty totaled a team-high 59 aces and 313 digs during the season. She also made 40 kills with an 81.8% serving average. She also led the team with 416 serve receptions.

Benavidez made a team-high 480 setting assists and 58 blocks during the season, along with 86 kills, 39 aces, 115 digs and a serving average of 88.4%.

Honorable mention was senior middle blocker Izabela Reid, who had 33 kills and 14 blocks.