Lady Cats post pair of victories in Zia Classic

ROSWELL – Things certainly didn’t go very well for Clovis High’s volleyball team in Friday’s Zia Classic pool play.

The Lady Wildcats went 1-9 in games in their six-team pool and were relegated to the bottom seed from the pool for Saturday’s bracket play.

They recovered nicely, though, beating Lovington 21-25, 25-16, 25-12, 25-15 and Miyamura 25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 20-25, 15-4 to capture the Bronze bracket title and finish ninth overall in the 12-team event.

“We did not play good on Friday, at all,” first-year CHS coach Cristy Hill said. “We’ve had to work through some adversity and put some people in different spots.”

After dropping the first set, the Lady Cats (6-2) dominated Lovington (1-5). Senior outside hitters Kailyn Jefferson and Elizabeth Warwick had 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while senior outside hitter/defensive specialist Aeryanne Conn posted 13 kills and junior setter Amanda De La Rosa provided 29 assists.

Clovis split sets with Miyamura in pool play, but faced the Lady Patriots (4-2) in Saturday’s finale and dominated the final set behind strong serving from Warwick.

“Liz scored six points in a row for a 9-1 lead,” Hill said. “Lis really got us going in that game with her serve.

“It’s really hard to come back when it’s 9-1 and you’re playing to 15. It was a huge momentum shift for us.”

Jefferson had a big match with 27 kills – 24 more than anyone else for Clovis – while senior outside hitter/defensive specialist Aeryanne Conn delivered 15 digs, leading four Lady Cats in double figures. Junior defensive specialist Jori Mondragon, who notched two of the team’s four aces, finished with 14 digs while senior DS Brienne Romero added 11 digs and De La Rosa provided 36 assists.

“We continue to serve good, and our passing and kills were much better on Saturday than Friday,” Hill said.

Organ Mountain defeated co-host Roswell Goddard in three sets to win the tournament.

The Lady Cats return to action on Thursday night with a match at Lovington.