Lady Rattlers surge to first place in district

Tucumcari's volleyball team vaulted into sole possession of first place in its district with victories last week over Clayton and Raton.

The Lady Rattlers breezed to a 25-17, 25-14, 25-13 home victory Saturday over an overmatched Yellowjackets squad, which has only one victory this season.

Tucumcari's win improved it to 13-4 overall and 4-0 in district play, with a one-match lead over runner-up Santa Rosa at 3-1. Raton and Estancia each were 2-2 in district play.

The Lady Rattlers are ranked fourth in Class 2A by MaxPreps.com.

THS coach Dana Benavidez said she reminded her players if teams in its district weren't paying attention to Tucumcari, they are now.

"They know we're the team to beat in our district, but they know that if we're at home, we're tough," she said. "We've got a couple of big games this week with Estancia and Santa Rosa."

Tucumcari on Saturday commanded a 29-6 edge in kills - led by Cambree Benavidez's nine - and 17-7 in service aces against Clayton. The Lady Rattlers also were more fundamentally sound.

Tucumcari's overall dominance enabled the coach to empty her varsity bench as early as the first set.

"I feel like if you can do that in games, it's good to build rapport and good to build for the future," she said. "You always want to get kids experience and because you might need to have them in big games."

Clayton (1-15, 0-4) never held a lead in any set. The Yellowjackets rallied to a 10-10 tie in the second set, but the Lady Rattlers scored 11 unanswered points to seize back control.

Coach Benavidez gave her team advice before playing the overmatched Yellowjackets.

"I just wanted us to play smooth and not have any type of balls at the net where we can get hurt," she said. "I think we did that."

Tucumcari 3, Raton 1

The Lady Rattlers earned a critical district victory on the road with a 25-23, 25-20, 17-25, 26-24 win at Raton.

The victory vaulted Tucumcari into sole possession of first place in its district with a 3-0 mark.

Tucumcari trailed 22-19 in the fourth set but rallied to win it, avoiding a fifth-set tiebreaker. Setter Caylee Benavidez flicked two straight kills into the deep corner to clinch the match.

Cambree Benavidez led the Lady Rattlers with 19 kills.

"Raton is tough," THS coach Dana Benavidez said. "We had to really play under control. They don't make a lot of unforced errors, so we had to score on them. Everybody had to do their job against Raton so we could win.

"It's a long trip to Raton. Those trips are sometimes hard on kids, especially when they have school. But they showed up ready to play, and it was just an amazing game."

Coach Benavidez gave credit to July Lafferty, who played in the front row for the first time since an ankle injury in mid-September, and eighth-grader Maaja Anaya for making big saves down the stretch.

Tucumcari's coach said with the recent emergence of Serenity Savala as a hitter, the Lady Rattlers can move around its attacks even more.

Jennifer Mattorano led the Lady Tigers with 14 kills. Raton fell to 10-5 overall and 2-1 in district play.

Logan 3, Grady 1

The Lady Longhorns notched a key district win Thursday with a 17-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-23 decision over visiting Grady.

Logan, ranked No. 1 in Class 1A by MaxPreps.com, improved to 14-3 and took sole possession of first place in its district with a 3-0 record.

Haylie Bidegain led the Lady Longhorns with 22 kills, 16 assists and four aces. Desta Rose added 11 kills, 31 digs and 17 service points.

Logan coach Glynna Strand cited "consistency in swinging hard" as a key to her team's victory.

Grady, ranked eighth by MaxPreps, ended the week with a 13-4 record overall and 2-1 in district play.

Logan 3, San Jon 0

Logan kept rolling with a three-set victory Saturday against visiting district foe San Jon.

For the Lady Longhorns, Makinlee Judd totaled seven kills and six aces. Haylie Bidegain added six kills and three blocks. Charli Fuller made 16 assists.

The Lady Coyotes fell to 5-12 overall and 0-6 in district play.

Fort Sumner 3, San Jon 0

Fort Sumner dominated visiting San Jon by a 25-11, 25-14, 25-16 score on Thursday.

The Vixens, ranked fifth in Class 1A, improved to 9-6 overall and 1-1 in district play.

Grady 3, San Jon 0

District contender Grady romped to a 25-19, 25-11, 25-6 victory against visiting San Jon last Tuesday.

The Bronchos improved to 13-3, 2-0 after the match.