Portales sweeps Artesia on court

STAFF WRITER

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With district play right around the corner, the Portales High volleyball team seems to have hit its stride as it swept the Class 5A Artesia Lady Bulldogs 26-24, 25-21, 25-13 at the Ram Athletic Center.

Staff photo: Matthew Asher

Portales junior outside hitter Trinity Kizer gets a kill in the first set of Portales’ match against Artesia. Portales in three sets and Kizer finished with four kills.

The last times these squads met, Artesia (10-3) beat the 4A Rams in five sets. This time, Portales (5-7) never trailed by more than a few points and kept the pressure on Artesia.

“We just didn’t pass well. We didn’t handle their serving,” Portales coach Charity Gomez said of the previous encounter with Artesia. “Tonight, everybody played solid. And as I’ve said before when everyone does their job we are a solid team that is hard to beat. Tonight we passed it well and we ran a good offense.”

Portales took control from the beginning and built a small four-point lead going into the set. However, a few missteps, including junior Libero Zam Cox slipping when prepping for a pass, gave Artesia a one-point lead and the serve up 24-23. Gomez called a time-out to regroup her team.

“We just try to not allow them get two points in a row,” she said. “We talk about getting a side out (regaining control of the serve). We talk about first-ball kill because we don’t want a rally. You just keep telling them you’ve been in this situation before, you know how to deal with it.”

Portales got the side out and handed the ball to junior Alexis Garcia. She rewarded the Rams with a service ace to put them up by one and then the team stopped an Artesia rally to take the first set 26-24.

“Coach told me just to get a confident serve over and to get it in the court,” Garcia said of her first of two serves. “With the next point I was just thinking about serving it in (bounds) again.”

Gomez was happy with Garcia’s efforts, not just with those two serves, but as a whole.

“She’s really been focused on wanting to get more digs and being a more quality passer,” Gomez said. “She’s really hitting her goals lately.”

The first set seemed to be a catalyst for Portales as sets two and three appeared much easier for the Lady Rams to win.

“I thought we played the game a little slow, a little lethargic,” Gomez said of the first set. “But once we started, we hit our groove and you can see the result in the third set.”

Lindsay Blakey was the lone Ram with double-digit kills at 16. Senior Sky Marianito recorded a double-double with 21 assists and 13 digs. Junior setter Sarah Blaeser finished with 14 assists and Cox had 17 digs. As a team, the Lady Rams had 40 total kills.

The Lady Rams have a day of rest before hitting the road to face the Clovis Wildcats. Portales is 0-4 this season in away games.

The last time these teams met in Portales, the Lady Rams swept the match.