Clovis rallies to top Carlsbad in tournament opener

CLOVIS — If you were a Clovis volleyball fan, you may have been disappointed with Tuesday’s District 4-5A quarterfinal match only if you had plans for the evening and were hoping to get out of Clovis High School’s Rock Staubus Gymnasium early.

If you were a Carlsbad volleyball fan, you were just plain disappointed.

The Lady Wildcats treated their home crowd to a stirring comeback victory after falling behind two sets to none, winning 26-28, 22-25, 25-6, 25-16, 15-8.

Clovis went on to fall to Roswell Thursday night, taking just the one step in district tournament play. But what a step it was.

“We knew we could beat this team. We knew we were pretty evenly matched, because we split with them in the (regular) season,” Clovis head coach Ruth Chavez said, referring to her team’s 3-1 loss at Carlsbad on Oct. 8 and 3-0 victory over the Cavegirls at Staubus Gym two weeks later. “So we knew it would be a battle tonight, but after the first two (sets) you’ve gotta hope that your kids have some fight in them. And we’ve been trying to find that fight all year; we finally dug it out.”

“I’m so excited; it was such a big game,” Clovis junior middle blocker Skyler Jordan said. “I’m proud of all my teammates. We went out there and we played our best.”

For Carlsbad (3-17), it was a tough loss for head coach Hannah Hamblin to absorb, especially since it likely ended the Cavegirls season because they aren’t expecting a state-tournament bid.

Hamblin saw her team win two close sets and inch close to victory, then watched it disintegrate.

“They lost their energy and they didn’t show up for the last three sets,” an emotional Hamblin said. “They just gave up. What can you do about that, right?”

Clovis had 41 kills on the night, which had Chavez practically cooing after the match. The Lady Wildcats also had 18 aces, including six from sophomore Cady Ratledge, who is tasked with coming off the bench and serving. “That’s her one job, just to serve,” Chavez said. “Get in there and do it.”

All the Lady Wildcats performed well – eventually – but the night didn’t begin well for them. They were oh so close to taking a 1-0 lead in the match, up 24-22 in the opening set, a Kaci Cabeldue kill providing that 24th point. Carlsbad, though, rallied to tie it at 24, fell behind 25-24, then came back to take a 26-25 edge. Clovis pulled into a 26-all tie before the Cavegirls notched two straight points to win the set.

Clovis had a late lead in the second set as well, ahead 21-20. Carlsbad tied it at 21 on a Serena Rodriguez kill and went ahead 22-21 on a kill by Alexa Sowers. After Clovis won the next point to forge a 22-all tie, Carlsbad won the next three to close out the set and build that 2-0 lead in the match.

The Lady Wildcats could have lost heart at that point, folded in the third set and surrendered to a Carlsbad sweep. But they had other ideas.

“We were going to play our hardest,” Jordan said. “We weren’t going to back down.”

Clovis came out and overwhelmed Carlsbad in the third set, building leads of 10-1, 15-3 and 23-5 – the 10th point coming on a Milia Ratledge kill, the 15th on a Hannah Gallegos ace, the 23rd on a kill by Kiara Cox.

With the Lady ’Cats up 24-6, Kameron Kelley dumped a return over the net for a kill that sealed Clovis’ third-set victory.

Carlsbad rebounded in the fourth set – at least initially – and went ahead 8-1 before Clovis battled back to make it 8-5 and eventually 10-10. A Camryn Barros ace put Clovis ahead 11-10, and the Lady Wildcats never trailed again in the set, winning 14 of the next 20 points to notch a 25-16 victory.

Clovis had come from down 0-2 to tied 2-2. And vice versa for the Cavegirls.

“They just gave up,” Hamblin said. “It’s just mentality, and there’s nothing you can do to fix that as a coach.”

Though Carlsbad won the first point of the deciding set, Clovis then won three in a row and seven of the next nine. The Wildcats never led by less than three the rest of way, and took the tiebreaker set 15-8. On the final point, a Cox block kept the volley going, and she soon ended the match with a kill.

Clovis had come all the way back to earn its spot in the district semifinal.

“I think we have to give credit tonight to our passing and serving,” Chavez said, “not early, but late in the game. … Without passing we would’ve been a nightmare. … And then our serving got more aggressive. You can’t beat people if you serve gentle.”

Cabeldue led Clovis Tuesday with 10 kills. Cox and Kelley added eight kills each for the Lady Wildcats, followed by Tabatha Gallegos with six, Milia Ratledge with four, Jordan with three, and Baros and Janelle Macias with one apiece.

Barros had four aces, followed by Tabatha Gallegos with three, Kelley and Macias with two each, and Hannah Gallegos with one.

Macias paced the Lady ’Cats with 18 digs.

The scores of Thursday’s defeat at Roswell were 15-25, 14-25, 26-28. The Lady Wildcats were 7-14, awaiting to see if they would receive a state-tournament invite.