Volleyball roundup: Clovis wins Zia Classic

ROSWELL — The Clovis High Lady Wildcats took home the top prize from the 12-team Zia Classic volleyball tournament on Saturday, defeating Roswell 3-2 in the championship match.

“It’s huge; it’s a huge win because it’s a good tournament,” CHS coach Ruth Chavez said. “And we didn’t just win it squeaking by, we played well. It was fun to watch.”

Clovis won all five matches on Friday and beat Artesia 3-2 on Saturday to earn a spot in the championship game.

“Our defense was great,” Chavez said. “Our defense is just coming along well. We had a big night defensively.”

Kassidy Furrow led the way with 16 kills in the title match, followed by Makinzie Johnson with 15.

Lexi Cole had 23 kills to go with six blocks against Artesia, while Johnson posted 15.

Jada Gillespie had 107 assists in the two matches for Clovis (5-1).

Chavez pointed to the Lady Cats’ performance in both serving and passing as keys to the wins on Saturday and more down the road.

“If we can win the serving and passing games, we can win all games,” Chavez said.

Melrose finishes fourth — The Melrose Lady Buffaloes dropped both matches on Saturday, finishing fourth in the eight-team Vixen Classic volleyball tournament, falling to Fort Sumner in five sets before losing to Dexter in straight sets in the third-place match.

“We had an up-and-down tournament,” Melrose coach Casey Jackson said. “We’ve played a lot better but we played tough against Fort Sumner, had a couple balls that didn’t go our way, just had a couple of points not go our way.”

The Lady Buffaloes had to face Dexter immediately following the five-set loss against Fort Sumner and were simply out of energy.

“We had to turn around and play them right after that five-set game and we were worn out,” Jackson said.

Brette DeVaney led Melrose in both matches on kills, posting 18 against the Vixens and seven against Dexter. LaKasey Mondragon had 38 digs against Fort Sumner and 16 against Dexter, while Landry Widner had 41 assists in the two matches.