Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Tucumcari's Haisley Huffman attempts a spike between two West Las Vegas defenders during a non-district match on Sept. 6 in Tucumcari. Huffman totaled a team-high 10 kills during the victory.
The Tucumcari High School volleyball team racked up two more non-district victories last week, giving it its best start in recent memory and earning a top-10 ranking in the state.
The Lady Rattlers downed Raton 25-11, 25-13, 15-25, 25-15 on Thursday and defeated West Las Vegas 27-25, 25-20, 25-21 two days before.
Tucumcari improved to 7-2 and rose to third in the latest Class 3A rankings by MaxPreps.com. In the coaches poll released Thursday, Tucumcari tied with Thoreau for the No. 7. Unbeaten St. Michael's is ranked No. 1 in both.
Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez, in her seventh season, said this year is "the best start to the season we've had."
Against Raton (1-3), Caylee Benavidez made a team-high 12 kills, and Harley McKinney totaled 12 assists for Tucumcari.
Alexis Ramirez served five of the Lady Rattlers' 12 aces, and the Lady Rattlers made only five service errors all evening.
"We played really, really good," coach Benavidez said. "We had a great three-touch (offense); we passed really well. Harley stepped up, and our back row did really well. And we served great."
Against West Las Vegas (2-4) earlier in the week, Tucumcari overcame 14 service errors during the match by overpowering the Lady Dons 36-15 in kills.
Haisley Huffman made a team-high 10 kills in the match for Tucumcari, and sisters Caylee and Cambree Benavidez each added eight.
West Las Vegas attempted a lot of blocks against Tucumcari, and that presented an opportunity for Huffman.
"Haisley can jump above a block," coach Benavidez said. "Whenever our hitters are getting blocked, Haisley can jump over them and put the ball down, and that's what she did tonight.
"We covered the ball well," the coach added. "We played good defense and got a good three-touch, and that helped. Our passing was good and set it up for our hitters."
The Lady Rattlers have more than a week off before they travel to participate in the Lady Braves Pink Classic tournament on Friday and Saturday at Santa Fe Indian School.
The host Lady Braves have to be considered one of the tourney favorites - they are 5-0 with a No. 4 ranking in the Class 3A coaches poll.
Santa Rosa 3, Logan 0
Fort Sumner 3, Logan 0
Texico 3, Logan 0
The Lady Longhorns endured a tough week with a non-district three-set loss at Texico and two three-set defeats against Fort Sumner and Santa Rosa at the Lady Vixens Classic Volleyball Tournament.
Logan fell to 3-5 overall.
Logan coach Glynna Strand said the consecutive losses at Fort Sumner were a tough pill to swallow after her team performed well, splitting sets with the host team and tournament champion Melrose and beating Santa Rosa during pool play on Friday.
Instead, the Lady Longhorns finished fourth after losing the matchups Saturday.
"We just didn't show up to play on Saturday," she said. "Right now, we're just playing very inconsistently. I can't explain it ... just young, I guess. Sometimes we play lights-out; sometimes we're really lights-out, like darkness."
During Thursday's loss at perennial Class 2A power Texico, Strand said she didn't have top hitter Natalie Bongers back hitting in the front row due to a shoulder injury, though she was allowed to set. Strand said her absence in Logan's offense was a factor in the loss.
