Buffaloes to enter district tourney at 18-0

MELROSE — The Melrose volleyball team has completed Phase 1.

And what a phase it was.

Tuesday night at Melrose High School, the Lady Buffaloes rallied to beat Grady 3-1, bouncing back from losing the first set before not allowing the Lady Bronchos to reach 20 in any ensuing set to win 23-25, 25-12, 25-18, 25-14.

With that victory, the Lady Buffs concluded their regular season at 18-0, and won the regular-season District 6-1A championship with an 8-0 record against that competition.

“Yeah, we had a great regular season,” Melrose head coach Casey Jackson said. “The girls worked really hard and it showed. It was fun. Now we’re hoping to keep up the success in the postseason.”

The Lady Buffaloes earned the No. 1 seed and an automatic bid to the district championship game, which they will host on Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. They won’t, however, know their opponent until this Thursday.

The last two months have been great for Melrose, but earning that regular-season title was just one goal. The next two are to win the district tournament crown, then move on and reclaim the state title taken away by Logan a year ago.

Still, running the 18-game slate though Tuesday was quite an achievement in itself, and the way the Lady Buffaloes did it was especially impressive. Tuesday night ended a 10-game stretch of Melrose sweep victories and marked only the fourth time this season the Lady Buffs needed more than three sets to win. They beat Friona 3-1 to open the season on Aug. 27, and had consecutive 3-1 victories over Logan on Sept. 14 in the Fort Sumner Tournament and at Hagerman five days later.

The Lady Buffaloes swept their other 14 games, including two regular-season broom-aways of Logan — on Sept. 27 at home and Oct. 19 at Logan.

“I think experience was a big part of it,” Jackson said. “We saw some tough games, but the girls really fought through them, because they’ve been playing so long. And honestly, they just worked really, really hard in practice every day. It’s just been fun. Everybody’s working hard and getting better, and we’re seeing the results of our hard work.”

Tuesday night, Hailey Martin had a great all-around night for Melrose, contributing 17 kills, 13 digs, four blocks and three aces.

Bretty DeVaney had 22 digs and four aces for the Lady Buffaloes. Nataley Mondragon added 21 digs, six kills three aces and three blocks. Pyper Belcher had 16 assists and three aces for the Lady Buffs.

Other top performers for Melrose were: Johanna Roybal with 25 assists; Isabelle Sena with 19 digs; and Anjalina Sanchez with five kills.

Teryn Foote led Grady with 14 kills, three blocks and two aces.

Hannah Bobbitt also starred for the Lady Bronchos, tallying 21 assists, 10 digs and three blocks.

Other top performers for Grady were: Bailey Montoya with 11 digs and five kills; Kristin Grau with six kills; Isabelle Martinez and Kassidee Glover with 11 digs each; and Caitlinn Harrell with 10 digs.

Grady wasn’t done with its regular-season slate after Tuesday. The Lady Bronchos carried an 8-11-1 overall record, 2-5 district, into this past Saturday’s late-afternoon home game against Fort Sumner.

The Lady Buffaloes, meanwhile, are getting plenty of time off to prepare for Saturday’s district championship tilt.

“We’ll probably go hard Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,” Jackson said, “and have a lighter day Thursday, maybe go watch the semifinal game (that night), then come in Friday and prepare for Saturday.

“But with our district,” Jackson added, “we’ve played each other twice apiece, and with Logan we’ve played them three times. There’s not a whole lot different anybody can do at this point. It’s just about being prepared and ready to go on Saturday.”

The time away from game days, though, will be much-appreciated.

“I think it happens to most teams at the end of the season, things can get a little repetitive,” Jackson said, “so it’s nice being at the end of the season, starting fresh, a whole brand new season basically. It’s just refreshing, gives a different kind of spark to the practice. You were in the same routine, and now you get to play for something.”

It’s an exciting time for the Lady Buffaloes, a time when their postseason quest is about to begin.

“I’m extremely proud of the girls and how hard they’ve been working,” Jackson said, “and we’re looking forward to the next couple of weeks.”