Lady Buffs down CCS, stay perfect

CLOVIS — Melrose continues its march towards a possible repeat title in Class 1A volleyball, and a fifth consecutive state finals appearance.

Thursday night, the top-ranked Lady Buffs made short work of game but overmatched Clovis Christian, cruising to a 25-9, 25-9, 25-10 District 6-1A win over the Lady Eagles at the CCS gym.

Up next for Melrose (14-0, 4-0 district) is a challenging closing schedule which includes home-and-home matchups with district rivals Fort Sumner (12-3, 4-0), ranked fourth in 1A, and Logan (11-5, 2-2), ranked fifth. The Lady Buffs were to host Fort Sumner on Saturday.

The idea, though, is to stay in the moment, said senior middle blocker Jayda Brittenum.

“We just come out here and have fun,” said Brittenum, who compiled 11 kills and eight services aces against the Lady Eagles (2-11, 0-4). “We made a lot of errors tonight, but we just push through it.

“We don’t want to get too far ahead of anything. We just have to take it one point at a time, one game at a time.”

Brittenum helped Melrose get off to quick start, compiling seven kills and five aces in the first set alone. CCS led 3-2 early, but Brittenum had three aces and a kill to help turn that into an 8-3 Lady Buffs advantage.

Senior setter Johanna Roybal served up three aces in a 6-0 Melrose run to begin Game 2, while junior outside hitter Isabelle Sena had two aces and Brittenum and sophomore outside hitter Graci Odom each added a kill in the Lady Buffs’ 4-0 start in the third set.

Knowing they had CCS in a vulnerable spot, coach Casey Jackson said the Lady Buffs just wanted to make sure they took nothing for granted.

“That’s kind of what we talked about — handle our business and get ready for the next one,” he said. “Even when we outmatch the other side, we still want to stay focused and play with intensity.”

Odom finished with eight kills while Roybal had 18 assists and five aces. Meantime, sophomore Elizabeth Warwick collected four kills for CCS.

“They’re a really good team,” Lady Eagles coach Sheila Holley said. “My team’s young, and we’ve got a ways to go.

“They have an excellent team, and I applaud them for that. Hopefully, we’ll get there some day.”

Clovis Christian was also in action at district foe Grady on Saturday. The next outing for Melrose is at home on Tuesday against Grady, while the Lady Eagles are back in action on Thursday when they welcome Logan.