Lady Rams notch victory in straight sets

LOVINGTON — Portales High’s volleyball team cruised to a District 4-4A victory at Lovington on Tuesday, as expected.

It set the Lady Rams up for a big match on Saturday at the Ram Athletic Center.

Portales (16-6, 3-2) posted a 25-9, 25-18, 25-13 win over Lovington, and was scheduled to face Artesia (14-8, 3-2) in a battle for second place behind Roswell Goddard (18-4, 4-1), which closes today against the Lady Wildcats (1-20, 0-5).

The result figured to have implications on the Class 4A state bracket, which was to be announced today by the New Mexico Activities Association.

Senior middle hitter Kylyie Paden collected 18 kills against Lovington, while senior libero Teagan Faust posted 30 digs. Senior setters R iley Shillings and Angelina Maestas notched 21 and 12 sets, respectively.

First-year coach Jacki Bailey was happy with how her team responded on Tuesday against a struggling foe.

“It can be a challenge at times,” she said of playing a team well out of the running for a postseason berth. “You’re trying to play with intensity against an opponent that might not be able to give it back.”

Lady Cats drop finale — Roswell High pulled out a tight second set Wednesday night and the Lady Coyotes defeated Clovis High 25-13, 26-24, 25-21 in the District 4-5A and regular-season finale for both teams at Roswell.

Roswell High (9-14, 3-3 district) clinched second place behind Hobbs in the district, and hope to earn an at-large berth in the 12-team Class 5A state tournament when brackets are released today.

After dropping a decisive first set, the Lady Cats (7-16, 1-5) had a chance to pull even in Game 2 but couldn’t finish the deal.

“We had the lead in Game 2,” Clovis coach Darrel Ray said Thursday. “We just couldn’t make a serve.”

While the score was close in the third set, Ray said the Lady Rockets were in control most of the way.

“Our passing and setting were good last night, but we couldn’t hit with Roswell.”

In the teams’ earlier district meeting at The Rock, Roswell High had a 2-0 lead in games before the Lady Cats stormed from behind to win it in five sets.

No stats were available from the match.