Portales volleyball continues hot start with sweep of Hobbs

PORTALES — The Portales volleyball team might just be on to something.

The Lady Rams have won five of six to start the season, the fifth of those victories coming via sweep — 25-18, 25-23, 25-10 — against Hobbs Tuesday night at the Ram Athletic Center.

It’s early, only September. But things are clicking for the Rams.

“The girls, they just have something that I can’t coach,” Portales head coach Charity Gomez said after Tuesday’s sweep. “I coach the skills, but this group of girls has determination, has heart. They just lock in and do the things we need to get done to win volleyball games.”

“We come together as a team,” senior rightside hitter Jordan Gomez said. “We have a lot of chemistry on our team, and we really pull through to get wins.”

They did just that on Tuesday, thanks in part to a stirring second-set comeback that put them in position to broom Hobbs away.

Portales won the first set 25-18, but faced a challenge in the second.

The Lady Rams did take a 13-11 lead in the set, and after Hobbs came back to tie it at 13, Portales won the next point to go up 14-13.

But Hobbs won the next four points, building a 17-14 edge. Portales did rally to forge a 17-all tie, but the Lady Eagles won the next five and built a 22-17 advantage.

Portales chipped away, though, bringing it down to 22-20. A Lady Rams service error made it 23-20, but then it was all Portales from there, as the Rams won four straight to move a point away from winning the set. It soon became five straight to close out the set, after Rams junior setter Ally Bridges served, and after a volley, Hobbs hit a return into the net.

Point and set for Portales.

“We just stay focused,” Coach Gomez said. “We just keep doing the things that we need to do. I coach the game, but they have something within their group that’s special.”

“Some of us got a little frustrated there,” Jordan Gomez said. “But like I said, we have a lot of chemistry and we can pull ourselves together.”

Each team broke the other’s serve to begin the third set, so it started 1-1. It stayed close for a while, with Portales taking modest leads of 4-2 and 5-4. Hobbs tied it at 5, before Rams junior hitter Rheagan Courtney made a block that turned into a kill and earned a tie-breaking point for her team. Courtney’s block was also the start of seven straight Ram points that put them up 12-5.

It was never closer than a six-point margin again. A Kinzie Davis point moved the set into double-digit territory, 18-8, for the first time, and the Rams kept surging to 20-8 before Hobbs won another point.

Leading 24-10, a point from securing victory, Kylyie Paden and Marisela Garcia leapt up to the net and fired the finisher.

Despite the three-set knockout, Portales had earned a tough victory and its week off. The Lady Rams weren’t scheduled to play again until this Tuesday at Roswell, so they’ve been spending this off time tweaking a few things before heading back into the season. Watching film, working on passing and serving, were on the agenda.

“We just kind of stay focused on the things that we feel win volleyball games,” Coach Gomez said.

“We’re really committed,” Jordan Gomez said. “And even if we have a week off, as soon as we get back in the gym, we go hard.”

Mixed bag for Clovis

The Lady Wildcats are also on a weeklong break, which followed a week of mixed results.

Last Saturday, the Lady ’Cats notched their first win of the season, sweeping Valencia 25-17, 25-23, 25-15 at the Moriarty Tournament.

However, when venturing back into non-tournament play last Tuesday, Clovis was swept at Artesia — 25-16, 25-12, 25-15.

This Tuesday the Lady Wildcats return to action with another road match, this time at Goddard (6:30 p.m.) in Roswell.

They’ll be back at Rock Staubus Gymnasium on Sept. 24, facing Goddard again.