Palo Duro pulls away to subdue Lady Cats

CMI photo: Tony BullocksClovis junior Andrea Aguilar goes down for a dig during the second game of Tuesday's volleyball match at Rock Staubus Gym. The Lady Dons, already playing their 17th match of the season, handed Clovis a season-opening, four-set loss.

While it was Clovis High's opener, it was already the 17th match of the season for Amarillo Palo Duro.

By the third game, you could pretty much tell it.

The Lady Wildcats competed well for a time, but Palo Duro took over after a key point was overturned in the third set Tuesday night and went on to a 25-19, 22-25, 25-11, 25-15 victory at Rock Staubus Gym.

CMI photo: Tony BullocksClovis junior Sasha Pollard-Smith gets a kill over Palo Duro seniors Mikeaa Gormany,left, and Jasmine Thomas during the first game of Tuesday's volleyball match at The Rock.

CHS had a point overturned in Game 3, which would have made it 6-6, and Palo Duro (8-9) went on to score 11 of the set's final 12 points to take a 2-1 lead. The Lady Dons pulled away after trailing 1-0 at the start of the fourth set, holding off a brief Clovis rally with another flourish to close it out.

"It shows how sometimes we get handcuffed when we cross that border and play Texas teams," CHS coach Gabe Apodaca said. "It feels like we're inexperienced with regards to court time."

The play in question came on what would have been a kill for junior outside hitter Sasha Smith-Pollard, but after about a 10-minute delay officials ruled the Lady Cats had served out of order and awarded the point to Palo Duro.

Junior middle blocker Sydney Romero's kill kept Clovis within 14-10, but Jasmine Thomas started Palo Duro's set-ending run with a kill. The Lady Cats had three attack errors and a service error during that time.

"They just have the court experience and awareness to play off the person next to you, and it showed in the third and fourth games," Apodaca said of the Lady Dons. "On the other hand, we'll look at all we did wrong and start to correct it."

Palo Duro got three blocks in a span of five points from middle blocker A'Jahn Harvey en route to a 13-3 lead in the fourth set. Romero had two blocks and two kills as the Lady Cats closed to 17-13, but a service error and three consecutive hitting miscues ended any hopes of a comeback.

Joslyn Smith had eight kills, Thomas added seven kills and three blocks and Harvey had six kills and five blocks for the Lady Dons. Junior outside hitter Kyleigh Guthals posted 13 kills and two blocks for CHS, while sophomore middle blocker Shea Mahon added seven kills and Romero finished with six kills and three blocks.

Junior setter Kristen Bradley had 33 assists.

Senior setter Jesenia Velez missed the match with a twisted ankle suffered in Saturday's scrimmages at The Rock, and Apodaca said that affected the team's rotations. "We'd always be able to have a setter in the back row, which gives us an extra hitter (up front)," he said.

The Lady Cats host a 12-team invitational this weekend at The Rock. Pool play starts at 8 a.m. Friday, with quarterfinals set for Friday afternoon and evening and the final two rounds on Saturday.