Logan prevails over depleted THS squad

LOGAN - With a 25-21, 25-16, 25-20 win on Saturday, the Lady Longhorns avenged an earlier volleyball loss this season to the Lady Rattlers, but it was a somewhat hollow one.

That's because Tucumcari (8-2) was without one of its top hitters, senior July Lafferty, after she suffered a sprained ankle early in the Mora match on Thursday. Lafferty still was on crutches Saturday, and THS coach Dana Benavidez estimated she will be out for one to two weeks.

Tucumcari's Big Three of Lafferty, sophomore Cambree Benavidez and junior Kyla Lopez had been racking up 30, 40, even 50 kills per match. But on Saturday, the Lady Rattlers totaled just 13 kills, compared to 32 for Logan.

Caylee Benavidez, a setter, led the Lady Rattlers with six kills. Lopez added three kills and two blocks for points.

Desta Rose and Haylie Bidegain each notched 11 kills for Logan (7-2). The Lady Longhorns also served 16 aces.

It wasn't just on offense where Tucumcari missed Lafferty.

"July not only hits a lot, she digs a lot," coach Benavidez said. "So we're having to make some adjustments. We're going to have to see what the doctors tell her this week, and then go to the drawing board and see what happens."

The THS coach and co-captain Caylee Benavidez could be seen directing the positioning of players during the match to adjust for Lafferty's absence.

"Volleyball is such a game of rhythm and momentum, and when you have to just change it all up, it's just different," the coach said. "But my team played hard. They didn't just hand it over."

Logan coach Glynna Strand was aware of Lafferty's absence.

"I hate that for her," she said. "I would have liked for them to be at full force. Hopefully they won't have to be without her for long."

Coach Benavidez acknowledged Cambree Benavidez also was a bit stiff Saturday because she still is recovering from major knee surgery earlier this year due to a basketball injury.

"She's just coming back and doing the best she can," the coach said. "Her leg isn't as strong as it was. If affects from her hip to her ankle."

The Lady Longhorns also received 10 kills from players other than Rose and Bidegain.

"I think that maybe the block was targeting on Haylie and Desta, so we tried to move it around a little more to take a little bit of the heat off them," Strand said. "I didn't tell them to do that; that was just the setters thinking, 'I'm going to put it here because the blocks aren't targeting on them as much.'"

Though Logan committed 11 service errors during the match, Strand was OK with that because of the 16 aces.

"Our serve was strong today," she said. "I believe like we bothered them a little bit with that."

In the third and deciding set, one of those servers, senior Kara Bibbs, made three straight aces to give the Lady Longhorns a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Tucumcari 3, Mora 0

The Lady Rattlers struggled at times after Lafferty's injury but prevailed 25-19, 26-24, 25-21 over Mora on Thursday at Rattler Gymnasium.

At one point, Tucumcari trailed 24-23 in the second set with the Rangerettes on the verge of match point. But the Lady Rattlers reeled off three unanswered points to win it instead.

"We had to make shifts in that game, too, because July went down early in the first set," coach Benavidez said. "But at least they still played to win."

Mora fell to 1-7.

Texico 3, Logan 2

The Lady Longhorns nearly pulled off an upset Thursday with a 17-25, 25-27, 25-14, 25-18, 8-15 loss at perennial Class 2A power Texico.

Strand said her team missed a few opportunities during the second-set loss and lacked the intensity in the deciding fifth set it had in the previous two.

"Nerves, maybe," she said. "Played really well at times. I was proud of them. Texico is a good team."

Bidegain totaled 18 kills and 22 assists. Rose notched 16 kills and 15 digs. Charli Fuller totaled 21 assists and five aces. Jadyn Garcia made 24 digs.

Texico improved to 5-1.

San Jon 3, Wagon Mound 0

The Lady Coyotes had an easier time with the Trojans during a 25-7, 25-17, 25-11 victory Thursday at Wagon Mound.

During their previous clash on Sept. 7, San Jon went five sets with Wagon Mound before prevailing.

Wagon Mound fell to 1-5.

Roy-Mosquero 3, San Jon 0

Roy-Mosquero, ranked 11th in Class 1A by MaxPreps.com, breezed to a 25-7, 25-7, 25-8 victory over visiting San Jon on Friday.

The Lady Pirates ended the week with a 6-3 record.

San Jon fell to 3-5.