Rams reach finals

link DEREK MAJOR: Staff photo

Junior Sheraya Cox spikes the ball past two East Mountain defenders for a point in the first game of a three game win against East Mountain Timeberwolves Tuesday night at the Ram Athleic Center.

The Rams won the match 25-3, 25-16 and 25-12.

Rams won the match 25-3, 25-16 and 25-12.

Portales started the journey toward a District 4-4A tournament championship Tuesday night as the Rams took down East Mountain 25-2, 25-13, 25-12 at the Ram Athletic Center.

The win was the Rams’ third win against the Timberwolves this season, all in three sets. “We just came together and got the job done,” said junior defensive specialist Kaycee Stone, who had five digs on the night. “We played well. Everyone took their job seriously and we just made it happen.”

The second-seeded Rams (9-12) play at regular-season champ and tournament top seed Ruidoso on Thursday for the titles. Ruidoso beat Portales in both regular-season matchups. Rams coach Ruth Chavez was happy with her team’s effort.

“We knew we had to come out and focus on our game and play the game that we like,” Chavez said. “East Mountain is a young team and we knew if you play a bit slower some bad things can happen. So we focused on our speed and our game.”

Sheraya Cox led the Rams with 20 kills and Kambrey Blakey added five. The Rams jumped out to a 12-1 lead in the first set en route to the easy win.

The second set went back and forth early before Portales took control. In the third game the Timberwolves (2-17) jumped out to an early lead, but the Rams fought back to tie the game at 10.

From there the Rams won 11 straight points to go up 21-10 and eventually win the set and the match. Ruidoso beat PHS to 3-1 In both meetings this season, matches in which Chavez felt the Rams beat themselves.

“A big problem against Ruidoso is we erred ourselves into losses in those games.So we feel like if we play smart and aggressive and cut our errors in half, we’ll be right there with them,” Chavez said. Stone agreed with her coach. “We just have to play our game. If we give it our all and play to our ability then we’ll be fine,” Stone said.