Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
FLOYD — The Dora Lady Coyotes have shown they can handle Floyd.
Now it’s on to the rest of District 3-1A.
Led by 15 kills and five service aces from senior D’Shawn Pettigrew, the Lady Coyotes completed a district sweep of Floyd Monday night with a 25-16, 17-25, 25-17, 26-24 victory over the Lady Broncos.
Dora (3-3, 2-0 district) nearly let a 13-point lead get away in the fourth game, but rallied for four of the final five points to erase a one-point Lady Broncos advantage.
“We had some mental lapses that really hurt us,” Dora coach Myra Skinner said of her team’s near-collapse in the fourth game. “We did some good things tonight, but when you have those mental lapses it can turn into 10 points in a hurry.”
The Lady Coyotes played without senior starter Marilyn Prewitt, who could not make the trip because of floodwaters blocking the roads near her home.
Floyd’s comeback was keyed by five of senior Noel Carpenter’s seven kills, including one to put her team in front 23-22. But Pettigrew countered with a kill to tie it, then put Dora ahead for good 25-24 with another one.
“We played good in spurts, but we just put ourselves in a hole,” Lady Broncos coach Sean Wootton said. “If we’d just eliminate some of our mistakes, we’d be a lot more successful.”
Dora controlled the first and third games for the most part, while Floyd (5-8, 1-3) had the upper hand most of the way in Game 2 to even up the match.
The Lady Broncos led early 5-3 in Game 3, but Dora got aces from Pettigrew and junior Rana Terry to pull in front 9-6. Floyd closed to 16-15, but Dora scored the next eight points and opened a 24-15 lead on a kill by senior Jena Bilberry.
Consecutive aces by junior Jennifer Bolin gave the Lady Coyotes a quick 3-1 lead in the next game, and the score mounted to 19-6 after back-to-back kills by Bilberry.
Floyd got aces from Darcee Chenault and Carpenter in mounting its comeback.
“They’re scrappy,” Skinner said of the Lady Broncos. “They get to a lot of balls.”
Bilberry finished with eight kills for Dora, while Chenault and Carpenter both had eight kills for Floyd. Carpenter also had two blocks and two aces while Chenault served for three aces.
“We have a lot to work on; we’re still young,” said Wootton, whose squad is all underclassmen except for Carpenter. “We need to do a better job of passing the ball.”
Skinner’s squad has a big test on Thursday night when it hosts district favorite Fort Sumner.
“We just want to play well,” Skinner said. “When you play well and do things right, that’s all you can ask.”
Floyd won the junior varsity preliminary 25-7, 14-25, 15-7, while Dora took the junior high match 25-21, 25-19.
Dora 3, Floyd 1
Dora 25 17 25 26
Floyd 16 25 17 24
Kills — Dora, D’Shawn Pettigrew 16, Jena Bilberry 8. Floyd, Noel Carpenter 8, Darcee Chenault 8, Carley Dement 5. Blocks — Dora, Jennifer Davis 1, Pettigrew 1. Floyd, Carpenter 2, Dement 1. Aces — Dora, Pettigrew 5, Jennifer Bolin 3, Rana Terry 2. Records — Dora 3-3 (2-0), Floyd 5-8 (1-3).
