THS secures playoff spot; seedings come later

Tucumcari’s volleyball team secured a berth in the Class 2A tournament but wouldn’t know of its next opponent until Monday night because a winter storm delayed a key district match.

Brackets for the state’s volleyball tournaments traditionally are scheduled by the New Mexico Activities Association on Sunday before matches later that week.

However, a severe winter storm postponed a key match in Tucumcari’s district between Raton and Santa Rosa until Monday night.

The NMAA stated after the completion of the match, it would seed the teams and set the postseason bracket.

(The Santa Rosa-Raton match and NMAA seedings were after the Quay County Sun’s print deadline.)

Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez said she thought her Lady Rattlers (19-4) would secure a top-four seed. THS went undefeated in its district and has won 10 in a row.

“I think we’ll be a 4,” she said. “But I can’t guarantee that.”

Though the NMAA delayed the seedings, it confirmed Tucumcari was one of the 12 teams that qualified for the playoffs, along with Raton, Santa Rosa, Texico, Tatum, Questa, Cloudcroft, Laguna Acoma, Legacy Academy, Lordsburg, McCurdy and Mesilla Valley.

Legacy Academy (19-2) is the likely No. 1 seed. It is ranked No.1 by MaxPreps.com and has won 12 in a row.

Tucumcari 3, Clayton 0

The Lady Rattlers wrapped up a perfect district schedule with a 25-18, 25-15, 25-22 victory at Clayton on Wednesday.

Kyla Lopez led Tucumcari with 14 kills, and July Lafferty added 11 kills.

Clayton fell to 1-20 overall and 0-9 in district play.

Tucumcari 3, Estancia 1

The Lady Rattlers went on the road last Monday to knock off district foe Estancia 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22.

Tucumcari’s victory was its ninth in a row and gave coach Dana Benavidez her 100th career win at THS in nine seasons.

July Lafferty led the Lady Rattlers with 17 kills, while Cambree Benavidez added 13 kills. Caylee Benavidez made five service aces and six blocks.

Estancia, which lost its third straight, fell to 11-11 overall and 3-6 in district play.