Lady Rams dominate Clovis

PORTALES - Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the start of high school sports in New Mexico in 2020-21 has been a long time coming.

For Portales High senior Mattison Blakey, the wait has been even longer.

Blakey has seen action this week for the first time since sustaining an injury to her left knee in basketball in late December 2019, and she's helping the Lady Rams try to make what they hope is a run to a Class 4A state volleyball title.

The Lady Rams dominated the first set and were in control much of the way Thursday night in beating Clovis High 25-7, 25-18, 25-17 in their home opener at the Ram Athletic Center, improving to 2-0 for the young season.

A setter for PHS, Blakey was able to get the ball to a bevy of offensive weapons in a match that Portales led except for the early moments of each set.

She admitted to some trepidation after her long layoff.

"It's good," she said of the knee. "Sometimes it gets a little sore, but I've come a long way."

Senior outside hitter Rheagan Courtney led Portales with nine kills, and three others had at least five in the match.

Courtney had back-to-back kills to put PHS up 3-1 in the first set, and the Lady Rams took off from there.

"We played really good," Blakey said. "Sometimes we get a little overconfident. That's not really a bad thing, but we want to be a little more consistent at times.

"I think the team is doing pretty good. We have a lot of potential."

Meantime, the Lady Wildcats (1-2) are in the middle of a busy first week, which they'll finish off with a Saturday afternoon matchup at Dexter.

"They're a good team," CHS coach Darrel Ray said of Portales. "We're still adjusting; we're working to get better. We've got to find out where we're going to get our points from."

The Lady Cats were more competitive in the second and third sets, but led only briefly in the second game. Portales then ran off four points in the third set to snap a 3-3 tie and eventually pulled away.

"We should've made it more of a fight, but I think we're going to get better from this match," Ray said. "They did a good job of mixing up their attack, and attacking from the weak side. They've got the kids to play that kind of game, and they do it well."

Senior middle hitter Kaci Cabeldue led Clovis with six kills, and she had the Lady Cats' only block for a point.

Senior outside hitter/setter Kameron Kelley sustained a knee injury in a scrimmage last week and has missed the first three matches for CHS. Ray said he hopes she can play at least a little bit at Dexter.

Meantime, veteran Lady Rams coach Ruth Chavez, who previously had a 29-year run at PHS and returned this year after spending the last three seasons in Clovis, said there is work to be done before her squad can reach its lofty goals. Portales returns to action on Saturday at Carlsbad.

"We wanted to make sure we won the passing and serving game tonight," Chavez said. "It was a good night for us. The kids gave a good effort.

"We're going to try to get better every day. This can be taken away from you in short order, so every time we step on the court it's going to be a joy that we celebrate."