Logan edges Melrose, wins district

LOGAN - The Lady Longhorns defeated top-ranked Melrose for the first time in two years and notched their first district championship since 2018, though they didn't know the latter until about 20 minutes after Friday's match ended.

Logan, ranked No. 2 in Class 1A by MaxPreps.com, prevailed in a 21-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-16, 15-13 epic in the regular season finale for both teams that took about two hours.

Melrose (20-3) and Logan (17-5) each finished district play with 7-1 records. Logan athletic director Billy Burns totaled the point spreads over the two matches used as a tiebreaker, and the Lady Longhorns edged the Lady Buffs by five points. Logan's nine-point win in the fourth set Friday proved critical.

Burns checked his math with Melrose coach Casey Jackson, who concurred with his findings. Logan was found to be district champs, long after most of the hundreds of spectators had left for home.

Kaylee Williams led Logan with 15 kills, including five in the fifth and deciding set. Desta Rose made 10 kills, and Haylie Bidegain totaled seven blocks for points and three aces.

The Lady Longhorns totaled a 12 scoring blocks to help blunt the Lady Buffs' attack.

Graci Odom led the Lady Buffs with 21 kills, and Kambree Draper added nine kills.

Logan coach Glynna Strand noted her team had lost four five-set matches during the season, including its previous matchup against Melrose.

"We did a lot of work on a fifth-set game during practice this past week, and I felt like that paid off for us," she said. "We wanted to go into the fifth set playing confident and swinging and not just playing to not lose, but playing to win.

"There's still some things we need to work on before state," Strand added. "But we played fantastic."

Jackson said his Lady Buffs didn't serve-receive well and were inconsistent with their serving game.

"We couldn't generate any offense because Logan was playing well," he said. "They did a lot of things to us that got us out of our system, took a lot away that we're comfortable with. They got us uncomfortable, and we couldn't recover."

Melrose's last week of its regular season did it no favors. The Lady Buffs played three matches in four days, including a grueling five-set victory at No. 3-ranked Legacy Academy.

Jackson was asked whether his team was tired going into Friday's match..

"I'm sure they were, but we're trying to prepare them for next week" at the state tournament, he said. "We're going to have to play two tough games, maybe three, in one day to be state champion. If you're tired, oh well."

"Maybe we'll get another shot at them," he added about Logan.

Strand reveled in the victory but admitted she also was looking ahead at the Class 1A tournament this week at various spots in the Albuquerque metro area.

"It's one game," she said. "There's still state coming up. It's always a battle with them; they're a fantastic team. There are other fantastic teams going up there; it's going to be a challenge."

In the second set, Rose broke a 24-24 tie with a kill, and Bidegain followed with a scoring block for the win.

Melrose eked out a 25-23 win in the third set.

In the fourth set, Logan went on an 11-2 run to take a double-digit lead before prevailing 25-16.

In the fifth and deciding set, the Lady Longhorns surged to leads of 6-1 and 9-3 behind Williams' three early kills and Bidegain's ace.

Melrose rallied to trail just 12-11, but Williams executed a kill and a scoring block to put her team at match point.

On the winner, Williams flicked the ball into the corner that the Lady Buffs couldn't reach.

Jackson said he wasn't terribly disappointed with the loss, given the high level of play by both teams.

"I feel like we played well at times," Jackson said. "It was just two really good teams going at it."

Logan 3, San Jon 0

San Jon closed its regular season with a 25-6, 25-9, 25-20 district loss last Tuesday at Logan.

San Jon finished the season with a 9-14 mark and didn't qualify for the postseason.

Though the Lady Coyotes improved considerably from the previous year, including a consolation championship at the Tucumcari Invitational tournament, they went winless in district play.

"I do wish a few things were different, but overall I'm satisfied with their progress and excited for the future of San Jon athletics," coach Bobby Kandel said. "We tripled our wins from the previous year, but we want to change it to a winning season next year. Small steps, but we're heading in the right direction, for sure."

San Jon loses just one senior - Sarah Archuleta, who led the team in kills and aces.