Lady Cats earn spot in Class 5A soccer playoffs

CLOVIS — Clovis High’s girls were accorded the No. 10 seed by the New Mexico Activities Association on Sunday in Class 5A state soccer playoffs, and the Lady Wildcats (13-4-1) faced a first-round date on Tuesday at No. 7 Volcano Vista (11-5-1).

The winner of that matchup advances to quarterfinal play against second-seeded Carlsbad (18-2), ostensibly at Carlsbad, on Saturday. The Lady Cats handed the Cavegirls their only loss of the season (2-1 in double overtime at Leon Williams Stadium on Sept. 28) before Carlsbad dropped its finale last week at home to Hobbs 3-1.

All matches are slated to be played at home sites until the finals, scheduled for the University of New Mexico on Nov. 5.

Lady Rams subdue Lovington — The first set was tighter than coach Jacki Bailey would have liked, but after that Portales High’s volleyball team settled down and took care of business.

Coming off a tough home loss earlier in the week to district rival Roswell Goddard, the Lady Rams got back on track with a 25-20, 25-9, 25-10 domination of struggling Lovington in District 4-4A volleyball on Saturday at the RAC.

Senior middle hitter Kylyie Paden collected 16 kills, four blocks and four digs for Portales (14-5, 1-1 district). The Lady Rams were slated to return to district action on Tuesday at Artesia.

“We had too many unforced errors,” Bailey said of Saturday’s opening canto. “After that, we played the way we’re capable of playing all the time.”

She said the Lady Rams tried to treat the match like any other, but because the Lady Wildcats (1-17, 0-2) are going through a down campaign it afforded her squad the opportunity to experiment a bit.

“It’s a (match) you have to take seriously all the time, especially in district,” she said. “But it does allow us to focus on some different things.”

Senior setter Angelina Maestas had 21 assists for Portales, while senior setter Riley Shillings contributed 15 assists and a team-high five aces and senior libero Teagan Faust notched 14 digs.

Bailey said the Lady Rams are looking at a much tougher week. After facing Artesia, Portales gets a rematch with Goddard on Saturday at Roswell.

The Lady Rockets have beaten Portales twice this season, including in the finals of the Clovis Invitational earlier this month.

“I think all three of us are capable of beating each other,” she said. “These are definitely games where we have to show up to play.”