Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Staff photo: Kevin Wilson Clovis senior Heather Pastrichak tips the ball over the block attempt of Alamogordo’s Rachel Precure during Saturday’s District 4-6A volleyball match at Rock Staubus Gymnasium. The Lady Wildcats assured themselves of the regular-season title with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-16 win over the Lady Tigers.
Staff photo: Kevin Wilson Mariah Garrison gets a kill over the defense of Alamogordo’s Rebecca Sparks in the third set of Saturday’s District 4-6A volleyball match at Rock Staubus Gymnasium.
Sports writer
Clovis High’s volleyball team won’t have to worry about a playoff for a district title this season.
link Staff photo: Kevin Wilson
Clovis senior Heather Pastrichak tips the ball over the block attempt of Alamogordo’s Rachel Precure during Saturday’s District 4-6A volleyball match at Rock Staubus Gymnasium. The Lady Wildcats assured themselves of the regular-season title with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-16 win over the Lady Tigers.
The Lady Wildcats took a little while to get going in Saturday’s District 4-6A match at Rock Staubus Gym, but in the end they pulled away to beat Alamogordo 25-21, 25-22, 25-16 at Rock Staubus Gym and clinch coach Gabe Apodaca’s fifth regular-season district title in his five years as head coach.
With only Thursday’s match left at Carlsbad, the Lady Cats (9-10, 5-0 district) can now focus on trying to get to the .500 mark heading into postseason play. They’ve had a couple of seeding playoffs with the Cavegirls in recent years.
Alamo (5-11, 2-3) got on a bit of a run in the first set and built a five-point lead on an ace by junior outside hitter Krysten Archuleta. The Lady Cats, though, took the lead for good 18-17 on a Lady Tigers attack error en route to winning the set, then stayed in control most of the remaining time.
“Towards the end we definitely pulled together,” said freshman outside hitter Makinzie Johnson, who finished with six kills. “We were pretty up-and-down, but we always help get each other back up where we need to be.”
It’s relatively rare for a freshman to step in at the varsity level, but Johnson credited her teammates for helping her adjust.
“The speed of the game is insane, but they really helped me out,” she said. “They really made me feel like part of the team.”
Senior outside hitter Danni Williams had eight kills for the Lady Cats while senior middle blocker Shaylee Warner collected seven kills. Warner and senior Mariah Garrison both had two blocks, while senior Rylie Lee had team highs of 19 digs and four aces and senior setter Dakota Grummer collected 27 assists.
Apodaca said he was a bit ner-vous about facing the Lady Tigers.
“You’re concerned any time you play a team that’s that athletic,” he said. “They blocked us a few times early on, but we made some adjustments offensively.”
link Staff photo: Kevin Wilson
Mariah Garrison gets a kill over the defense of Alamogordo’s Rebecca Sparks in the third set of Saturday’s District 4-6A volleyball match at Rock Staubus Gymnasium.
Alamo is going through an adjustment period after its head coach was fired earlier in the season. The husband and wife team of Scott and Sudee Rose took over, although neither had been on the staff.
Scott Rose said it hasn’t been that big an adjustment.
“We’ve got a great group of girls and they just want to get better,” he said. “It’s been an easy transition for us.”
He credited the Lady Cats for turning Alamo’s early momentum in the other direction.
“They weren’t clicking at the start, but their started running their attack and started tipping the ball to some smart spots,” he said.
Senior outside hitter Rylan Leadingham and junior outside hitter Rebecca Sparks each had six kills for the Lady Tigers, while junior outside hitter Krysten Archuleta collected three of the team’s seven blocks.
