Lady Dons edge THS in five sets

Thursday night's volleyball match was technically a non-district and regular season matchup. But its play and atmosphere resembled more of a postseason clash: West Las Vegas, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A by MaxPreps.com, versus host Tucumcari, ranked No. 2 in Class 2A.

In the end, the Lady Dons (5-1) made fewer mistakes late in the match and prevailed 20-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-15, 16-14 over the Lady Rattlers (7-1), who suffered their first loss of the season at a raucous Rattler Gymnasium.

Alexis Pacheco of West Las Vegas made four of her team-high 13 kills during the fifth and deciding set.

West Las Vegas coach Stacy Fulgenzi said she felt fortunate to escape with a victory.

"It was some really good volleyball, good for our team," she said. "We needed to be pushed like that. Tucumcari picks up a lot of balls, and they play smart. It was ia tough one, and I'm glad we pulled out the win."

Tucumcari's loss spoiled a big performance by July Lafferty, who made a match-high 18 kills. Caylee Benavidez totaled 12 kills and four blocks for points.

The Lady Rattlers, with their three big hitters, commanded a 42-27 advantage in kills. But they also struggled with their serve-receive game.

"It was a battle. We were closely matched to them," THS coach Dana Benavidez said. "We had a few more unforced errors than we normally have, especially in the sets we lost.

"But they didn't give up. They still fought back. They still gave it their all. They were still playing to win. We just have to pick ourselves back up and go back to the battle."

The Lady Dons commanded a big advantage in the serving game, with 13 aces compared to three for Tucumcari.

"They had really tight serves on the net," coach Benavidez said. "We struggled to defend them a little bit."

However, West Las Vegas also gave away points with 14 service errors.

"The last couple games, we've missed a lot of serves," Fulgenzi said. "We serve pretty tough. But I'd rather them get it in than go for too much. So that's definitely something that we need to improve on."

In the first set, Tucumcari started slowly and trailed as much as 13-5. But Cambree Benavidez made three kills during an 8-2 run to switch the momentum. Lafferty made three kills late to secure the 25-20 win.

In the second set, the Lady Dons seized control with a 7-0 run to win 25-17.

During the third set, a series of blocks or kills by Lafferty and Caylee Benavidez gave the Lady Rattlers a 13-7 lead.

West Las Vegas rallied to tie it 20-20, but kills by Lafferty and Caylee Benavidez sandwiched around Lady Don hitting errors gave Tucumcari the 25-22 win.

Tucumcari fell behind by double digits during the fourth set in 25-15 loss, setting up the fifth-set tiebreaker.

The Lady Rattlers fell behind 12-8 but made a 6-2 run to tie it 14-14. Pacheco executed two successive kills to clinch the match for the Lady Dons.

Fulgenzi said being mentally tough was the key to her team winning.

"We knew it was going to be a tough one for us, and we were going to have to battle," she said. "We just had to hang in there long enough."

Coach Benavidez said she told her team in the locker room after the loss it had to use it as motivation to be better.

"I want it to stink, I want them to care that they lost," she said. "But I want them to let it go. I don't want them to just wash it off as something that didn't matter, because it did. But they've got to let it go and focus on the next game because we have a whole lot of season left."

Logan wins tourney

Logan captured the title Saturday at the Magdalena Tournament with wins over Animas and the host team.

The Lady Longhorns defeated Animas 25-15, 25-9, 18-25, 25-18. Desta Rose totaled 20 kills and 18 digs. Haylie Bidegain made 10 kills and 20 assists. Charli Fuller had 22 assists, and Jadyn Garcia made 16 digs.

Logan conquered Magdalena 25-7, 25-23, 25-13. Rose had a match-high 12 kills and 10 digs. Bidegain made 11 kills and 16 assists. Garcia totaled nine digs and Fuller 15 assists.

Logan improved to 6-1.

Logan 3, Santa Rosa 1

Logan struggled at times against Santa Rosa's blockers, but the Lady Longhorns prevailed 25-15, 16-25, 25-19, 25-22 on Thursday at the Lady Lions' lair.

Bidegain totaled a team-high 14 kills for the Lady Longhorns. Rose added nine kills and 28 digs. Aspen Casey made eight kills, and Garcia made 19 digs.

Logan previously beat Santa Rosa in three sets on Aug. 29, but that was at the Lady Longhorns' gym.

"We always struggle to play well at Santa Rosa," Logan coach Glynna Strand said. "They have improved quite a bit."

Santa Rosa fell to 2-6.

San Jon 3, Wagon Mound 2

San Jon prevailed in a five-set marathon Saturday 19-25, 25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 15-10 against visiting Wagon Mound.

The Coyotes improved to 2-4. Wagon Mound fell to 1-3.

Floyd 3, San Jon 0

San Jon dropped a non-district road matchup Thursday by a 17-25, 25-23, 25-20 score.

Floyd notched its first victory of the season, improving to 1-7.