PHS comes out on top against Texico

TEXICO — The Portales Lady Rams and Texico Lady Wolverines challenged each other in an early-season volleyball match on Tuesday, and PHS came out with the victory.

The Lady Rams prevailed in their season opener 25-23, 18-25, 25-15, 25-20 over the six-time Class 2A state champion Lady Wolverines (1-1), who started their campaign on Monday night with a three-game sweep at Tucumcari.

Junior libero Teagan Faust posted a whopping 35 digs for Portales, while junior middle blocker Kylyie Paden had eight kills. Meantime, senior outside hitter/defensive specialist Kinzie Davis collected seven kills and 35 digs.

“It was a good match,” Lady Rams coach Ruth Chavez said. “I thought we played really well. It’s the first time we’ve been on the floor 6-on-6 (in competition) since November 2019.”

Statistical leaders for Texico were seniors Sydnee Muse with seven kills and 11 digs, Riley Rohrbach with seven kills and nine assists and Rachel Phipps with five kills and 11 assists.

Lady Cats sweep Lovington — After dropping their opener to Artesia in four sets the night before, Clovis High broke into the win column on Tuesday with a 25-10, 25-13, 25-12 victory over Lovington at The Rock.

Lady Wildcats coach Darrel Ray acknowledged the competition level was different the second night, but said his squad showed marked progress. It was the season opener for Lovington.

“It was just too much against too little,” Ray said. “Lovington’s very young, and it was kind of a mismatch.

“We served well, and we passed a great deal better than the first night. Because of that, we were able to get into our offense more.”

Senior middle hitter Kaci Cabeldue led Clovis with nine kills, and added three service aces. Meantime, senior libero Camryn Barros collected eight digs and a team-high four aces.

CHS senior outside hitter/setter Kameron Kelley missed her second consecutive match with a knee injury.