Tucumcari spikers conquer Logan

Tucumcari’s Kyla Lopez made only one kill during her team’s match against Logan, but it was big.

The sophomore’s spike into the back corner of Logan’s defense secured the Lady Rattlers’ 25-18, 25-19, 14-25, 25-21 non-district victory Saturday, their first over the Lady Longhorns since 2016.

Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez said she remembered that last win against Logan well, as it was during her first season of guiding the Lady Rattlers.

“We beat them during our tournament here, and we beat them in a home game,” she recalled.

Her recollection proved accurate. According to MaxPreps records, Tucumcari’s victories over the Lady Longhorns occurred less than a week from each other in early September 2016.

Tucumcari, ranked fifth in Class 3A by MaxPreps.com, improved to 10-4 after the win Saturday at Rattler Gymnasium.

Logan, ranked third in Class 1A by MaxPreps, fell to 8-4.

Benavidez said adjustments made earlier in the week set up the victory Saturday, especially with Harley McKinney playing more in the back row.

“We changed our defense and was able to defend them better,” she said. “Our back row defense and our serving was key to our winning. We played the best we’ve ever played tonight.”

Cambree Benavidez, a freshman, totaled a match-high 11 kills, many of them on booming spikes. During one, she almost knocked a Logan defender backwards from the impact.

“Cambree, she was on fire,” her mother and coach said. “She hit the lights out of the ball. They call it ‘locked in.’”

Caylee Benavidez, a junior, totaled seven kills and four service aces. Kirksey Smith, a senior, also served four aces.

For the Lady Longhorns, Haylie Bidegain led the team with nine kills and three blocks. Kaylee Williams added seven kills and two blocks.

Logan coach Glynna Strand grumbled over Tucumcari’s approach to the match.

“I’m going to give them credit because it was a good plan, but that wasn’t volleyball. That was crapball,” she said. “That’s not going to get them very far in the 3A state tournament. If you can’t beat them playing normal volleyball, where’s it going to get you later on?”

Strand was asked to elaborate.

“It was like junior high ball — getting it over on the first or second hit and try not to set it up and hit it,” she responded. “Nobody does that unless you’re trying to beat a team like this. It beats a 1A school that’s not prepared for that because that’s not the type of ball we play.”

Coach Benavidez fully admitted to taking a different approach against the Lady Longhorns.

“We tried to get them off their regular set defense, and it worked,” she said. “You make a different game plan for each team. We watch film and set our offense and defense on what the other team does.”

Nursing a two-point advantage late in the first set, a total of four aces by Smith and Caylee Benavidez fueled a 7-2 rally to win the opener.

In the second set, Tucumcari surged to a double-digit lead on a 13-1 run and won that one, too.

In the third set, the Lady Longhorns began to assert their size advantage at the net and led 20-10 at one point.

After losing that set, Tucumcari’s coach told her team to “let it go.”

“We can dwell on things that bring us down, and I didn’t want them to do that,” she said.

Late in a tightly battled fourth set, Tucumcari broke through with a 7-2 run after two kills each from Haisley Huffman and Cambree Benavidez and a service ace from Alexis Ramirez.

Logan made a small rally to tighten the score 24-21. Then Lopez, who executed a key block earlier in the set, unleashed her match-winning spike.

Tucumcari 3, East Mountain 0

Tucumcari was a bit erratic but still earned a 25-15, 25-19, 25-18 non-district victory against a struggling East Mountain squad on Thursday.

The Lady Rattlers spotted small leads early in the first two sets to the Timberwolves but overcame those with lengthy scoring runs.

“We were up and down a little bit,” coach Benavidez said. “We’ve had a hard week with a lot of games. We did what we needed to tonight.”

East Mountain fell to 1-11 overall.

Tucumcari 3, Santa Rosa 1

The Lady Rattlers changed a few things up that help enable a 25-17, 26-24, 21-25, 25-19 non-district victory over Santa Rosa on Sept. 26.

Coach Benavidez said McKinney shared more of the serve-receive duties with Ramirez, which helped against the Lady Lions.

“We played smooth and under control,” coach Benavidez said. “We changed up our serve receive a little bit. Harley is serve receiving now and making a big difference. She’s a great passer.

“We also ran a few new offenses so it keeps the other side on their toes because they don’t know what to expect from us.”

Huffman and Caylee Benavidez each made seven kills against Santa Rosa.

Santa Rosa fell to 7-6.

Logan 3, Clayton 0

The Lady Longhorns overwhelmed the Yellowjackets 25-10, 25-11, 25-14 during a non-district home match Thursday.

Williams led Logan with 12 kills, and Bidegain added eight.

Clayton fell to 5-9.

San Jon 3, Dora 1

Fort Sumner 3, San Jon 0

San Jon defeated Dora for a third time this season with a 25-20, 25-19, 16-25, 25-20 decision on Thursday.

San Jon improved to 9-5 overall.

Dora fell to 3-6.

At Fort Sumner on Sept. 25, little went right for the Lady Coyotes during a 25-9, 25-23, 25-8 district loss.

Addie Lafferty led San Jon with two kills and one service ace.

The Vixens improved to 4-4 overall and 1-0 in district. San Jon fell to 1-2 in district play.