Lady Rams escape Lady Wildcats in five-game match

link KEVIN WILSON: Staff Photo Portales junior Kaycee Stone jousts for a ball at the net with Clovis’ Savannah Nelson Thursday at Rock Staubus Gymnasium.

CLOVIS — Coming off a tough four-set loss to District 4-4A rival Ruidoso two nights earlier, the Portales Lady Rams were determined to make amends on Thursday night.

Clovis High, meantime, nearly handed PHS a second straight tough loss. Junior outside hitter Sheraya Cox notched five of her eight kills to spearhead a match-ending 14-7 run and the Lady Rams pulled out a 25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 17-25, 15-12 win over the Lady Wildcats at Rock Staubus Gym.

Junior outside hitters Kambrey Blakey and Bailey Rowley had 11 and six kills, respectively, while Rowley added 19 digs for Portales (7-11).

“We’re young and we’re up and down a little bit,” veteran Lady Rams coach Ruth Chavez said. “Priscilla Urioste served a heck of a night for us; she brought us back in that fifth set.”

Meantime, the setback ended a three-match winning streak — all in District 4-6A — for the Lady Cats (8-10), who were trying to climb back to the .500 mark and appeared ready to do so when they took a 5-1 lead in the fifth set.

The Lady Rams took an 8-5 lead with Urioste, a junior defensive specialist, at the line in the fifth set. She had one of her three aces during the run while Cox, who added nine digs in the match, contributed a pair of kills.

“We kind of lost momentum (with a 2-0 lead in games), and volleyball is a game of momentum,” Rowley said. “But none of us ever had any doubt in our mind.”

Clovis got big nights from senior middle blocker Shaylee Warner, with 12 kills and seven blocks, and senior outside hitter Danni Williams, who had 14 kills and two blocks.

Meantime, senior libero Rylie Lee had 30 digs, and senior setter Dakota Grummer notched 33 assists.

The Lady Rams, though, took Williams out of the match early before she and the Lady Cats eventually began to adjust.

“That’s got to be your plan,” Chavez said. “We set our block for her, and all of our front row are good jumpers.”

Chavez and Clovis coach Gabe Apodaca like to schedule the match between friendly rivals in the middle of district play to help push each other.

“Portales came out ready to play, and it showed in those first two games,” Apodaca said. “They had answers for Danni and Shaylee, but we finally started making adjustments. “We started off well in that last game, but it’s a situation where we’ve struggled all year to maintain a lead.” All the games were close.

The Lady Cats broke away late in the fourth set. They scored the final seven points, starting with a PHS service error, before finishing it as senior Savana Nelson posted aces on the final two points.

That momentum continued into the start of the fifth set. After a tip-kill by junior middle Amanda Schmidt for the Lady Rams, Clovis notched the next five points with Warner getting a kill and a block.

“You always want to beat Clovis — it’s a rivalry thing,” Rowley said. “When (you get) ahead, you have to step on their throats. You know they’re going to fight back because we’re such rivals.”

Both teams return to district play on Saturday, with Portales visiting East Mountain and the Lady Cats entertaining Alamogordo.