Lady Rams notch first victory for new coach

ALBUQUERQUE — New Portales High volleyball coach Jacki Bailey is on the board with a win.

The Lady Rams improved to 1-1 on Saturday, posting a 25-20, 25-19, 25-15 victory over Bosque.

Senior middle hitter Kylyie Paden led PHS against the Lady Bobcats (1-1) with 13 kills and three blocks.

“We looked good in the first two sets, and we battled the way we’re capable of in the third game,” Bailey said. “We learned from our loss (at Hobbs in the season opener). We still have things to work on, and I hope (the win) inspires us to improve our intensity and focus.”

The Lady Rams were back in action on Tuesday night at Clovis. They travel to Moriarty for a one-day tournament on Saturday.

Clovis 2, Socorro 1 (Saturday, girls soccer) — The Lady Wildcats missed some opportunities, first-year coach Ray Rodriguez said, but they did enough at Leon Williams Stadium to beat a Lady Warriors squad which came in ranked No. 1 in Class 1-3A by MaxPreps.

Senior forward Nevaeh Coronado converted a direct kick about five minutes into the first sudden-death overtime as Clovis improved to 5-1 for the young season.

“We had a lot of good opportunities to finish at the goal, and we just didn’t do it,” Rodriguez said. “We made a hard game out of it. The positive part is my starting 11 showed me that their conditioning is getting better.”

Junior midfielder Caley Adams converted a crossing pass from junior midfielder Reece Harmon in the eighth minute to stake CHS to the lead. The Lady Warriors (3-1) tied it with about 15 minutes remaining in the match as senior Lola Apocaca headed the ball into the net of a teammate’s direct kick.

Clovis outshot Socorro on goal 15-4 in the match, and had a 6-0 margin over the Lady Warriors in corner kicks.

CHS had a return match scheduled for Tuesday night at Lovington, a team they blanked 10-0 earlier at Leon Williams Stadium. The Lady Cats travel to Portales on Thursday for a 5 p.m. matchup, scheduled for the PHS pitch due to Eastern New Mexico University’s season-opening football game that night at Greyhound Stadium.

Portales 3, Ruidoso 2 (Saturday, girls soccer) — Eighth-grader Maria Lujan scored less than 10 minutes before the rains came, and the Lady Rams held on for their third consecutive win by edging the Lady Warriors at Ruidoso.

The match was called with about 16 minutes left due to the precipitation. It was the first half of what was to have been a doubleheader, with the boys contest between the schools now set for 4 p.m. on Thursday.

PHS (3-2), winless in six matches during the spring COVID season and author of just one goal in that time, now has a three-match win streak working.

“I just want to keep up our momentum,” Lady Rams coach Bonnie Britton said. “We don’t want to settle; we want to keep up the work ethic and stay hungry for wins.”

Junior forward/midfielder Jolie Griffith put Portales ahead inside the first minute of play. Senior midfielder Adeli Hernandez then made it 2-0 later in the opening stanza.

The Lady Warriors (0-4) tied it with goals from freshman forward/midfielder Bayler Pritchett and junior forward Itzel Parga inside the first 10 minutes of the second stanza.

Portales’ next outing is the Thursday contest at PHS against Clovis.