Lady Cats go five to edge Portales

Momentum was a fleeting thing in Tuesday night's Clovis-Portales volleyball matchup.

JOSHUA LUCERO: CMI correspondent

Lady Ram Summer Martinez hits the ball past Clovis High School's Dani Williams Tuesday evening in the Lady Rams' match against the Clovis Lady Wildcats at Portales High school Gym.

JOSHUA LUCERO:CMI correspondent

Portales Lady Ram Bailey Rowley blocks a shot from Clovis on Tuesday evening in the Lady Rams' match against the Clovis Wildcats at Portales High School Gym.

The Lady Wildcats had it in the odd-numbered sets, though, and it was just enough to give them a 25-11, 17-25, 25-16, 12-25, 15-7 win over PHS at the Ram Athletic Center.

Clovis (3-3) never trailed in a near-flawless first set, then promptly struggled as the Lady Rams (5-2) quickly bounced back.

"It's like momentum won each one of these games," CHS coach Gabe Apodaca said.

Junior middle blocker Sydney Romero led a balanced Clovis attack with 11 kills, while sophomore middle Shea Mahon added 10 kills and junior outside hitter Kyleigh Guthals had nine kills to go with a team-high four aces.

"We were moving the ball around a lot," Apodaca said. "I think that makes it hard (for opponents) to scout who you're going to key on."

Junior outside hitter Kristen Wagner led the Lady Rams with 15 kills. Portales was coming off a second-place finish in the Moriarty Invitational over the weekend, losing in the finals to Roswell Goddard.

"We had a tough night on serve-receive," Lady Rams coach Ruth Chavez said. "We've got to learn how to be able to overcome a little struggle. This will be a good learning experience for us."

The Lady Cats quickly took control in the deciding set, going on a 10-3 run to break away from a 2-2 tie.

"It feels great beating someone at their home (court)," said senior setter Jesenia Velez, who had several of her team-high 18 assists in the final game. "We've just got to work as a team. If it's not a perfect pass, you don't get the perfect set or the perfect kill."

Velez injured her left ankle in preseason and was playing her second match of the season.

"Being back on the court makes me happy," she said. "It's a lot better than having to be on the bench."

Romero and sophomore Danni Williams teamed up for a block on match point, the block credited to Williams.

"They jumped on us that fifth game," Chavez said. "We'll learn from it."

Junior Simone Laurenz had six kills for PHS, while junior Savannah Vincent added five kills and four blocks.

Junior libero Andrea Aguilar compiled 22 digs for Clovis, which had six players with at least four kills.