Artesia sweeps Clovis

ARTESIA — Clovis’ volleyball team, like any team would, came with optimism into Thursday night’s season opener at Artesia.

It’s only one game, but it was not the outcome Clovis had hoped for. The Lady Wildcats were swept 3-0 — 25-14, 25-17, 25-22.

Despite losing, the scores did get progressively closer as the game went on. And Ruth Chavez spotted positives as she began her second season as Lady Wildcats head coach.

“I think we served well and did some good things,” Chavez said.

But, losing a plethora of last year’s players to graduation was evident out on the Artesia gym floor.

“Our inexperience with a solid team hurt us,” Chavez said. “They get everything up, so they force you into errors.”

Clovis sophomore Kameron Kelley had a solid night, providing 10 assists, four kills and three aces. Fellow sophomore Mikyla Harkley added four kills.

The Lady ’Cats now move forward and will visit the Ram Athletic Center to battle Portales on Tuesday night, with game time scheduled for 6 p.m. Another early-season test for Clovis.

“We are inexperienced,” Chavez said, “so our goal is to grow and get better and more disciplined every day.”