Melrose, Texico pick up top seeds

The Texico Lady Wolverines have set a high standard when it comes to Class 2A state volleyball tournament play.

Meantime, the Melrose Lady Buffs are certainly trying to follow suit in Class 1A.

Both schools earned No. 1 seeds for 12-team state competition in five classes, scheduled from Thursday through Saturday in Rio Rancho. Class 1A will play at Rio Rancho High School on Thursday, while everything else is scheduled for Santa Ana Star Center.

The NMAA has eliminated pool play this season, instead adopting a double-elimination format that will be in place until Saturday’s semifinals. Championship matches are set for Saturday night.

Two other teams from the area qualified for this weekend’s get-together — Floyd earned the No. 5 in 1A while Portales is seeded fourth in 4A.

Texico (15-6) has won five consecutive 2A crowns and 11 of the last 13, starting with a six-year run from 2006-11. The Lady Wolverines’ first match is set for 3 p.m. Thursday against the winner of a morning clash between eighth-seeded Monte del Sol and No. 9 Penasco.

“We’ve just grown as the season has gone on,” 12th-year Texico coach Kristen Scanlan said. “We’ve gotten better as a team.”

The Lady Wolverines have just two key players back from last year’s squad, and have overcome the loss in preseason of senior middle blocker Riley Thompson to a torn ACL.

“The kids that have taken her place have done well,” Scanlan said, adding that she was surprised her team got a No. 1 seed.

“I thought (second-seeded) Dulce should’ve gotten the (top) seed,” she said. “I think there are about six teams that have the ability to win it.”

District rivals Melrose and Logan are seeded 1-2 in Class 1A, and could well meet up in the finals. The Lady Buffs (19-0), who own a 3-0 win over Texico this year and have dropped just four sets all season, face either eighth-seeded Carrizozo or ninth-seeded Evangel Christian in their opening match at 3 p.m. Thursday.

In his five previous seasons at the helm, coach Casey Jackson has led Melrose to state titles in 2015 and 2017 and runnerup finishes in the three even-numbered years.

“We’re really hoping so,” Jackson said about the possibility of keeping the trend going in 2019. “The girls have put in the work; now we’ve just got to put it all together.”

He said he likes the new tournament format.

“It’s set up for some good games, especially later in the tournament,” he said. “There’s some really good teams out there.”

Seniors Brette DeVaney, Nataley Mondragon and Deajha Downey and juniors Hailey Martin, Piper Belcher and Angelina Sanchez have been the Lady Buffs’ backbone over the past few seasons.

Floyd (15-5) is making its second trip to state in the last three seasons. About a half-dozen of the Lady Broncos’ players helped the team reach state as sophomores in 2017, and they are hoping to build on that experience as seniors.

Floyd takes on 12th-seeded Santa Fe Waldorf at 8:45 a.m. Thursday, with that winner meeting No. 4 Quemado at 4:45 p.m.

“I’m excited we get to play early,” fourth-year coach Dawn Kuchta said. “It will be good for the girls to get over their (tournament) jitters.”

Kuchta said that while Melrose and Logan may be the favorites, she’s looking for a way to get her team to Saturday night’s 6 p.m. title match.

“I think my girls have just as good of a chance (as anybody),” she said. “When you get to the finals of a state tournament, it’s just a matter of who shows up to play.”

Portales (18-5), coached by Charity Gomez, is coming off a five-set loss to Goddard in Saturday’s District 4-4A tournament finale at Roswell.

The Lady Rams, with just three seniors on their roster, reeled off a 15-match winning streak after a season-opening four-set loss at Class 5A qualifier Hobbs. They’re 3-4 since then, with all seven of those matches going five sets.