Lady Cats give Hobbs battle in four-set loss

CLOVIS - By Las Vegas standards, Hobbs would have entered Thursday's District 4-5A volleyball match against Clovis High at Rock Staubus Gym as a prohibitive favorite.

Sure, the Lady Eagles prevailed in the end, clinching the district title, but not before taking a few body blows from the Lady Wildcats.

Hobbs (14-8, 5-0 district) extended its winning streak to 10 matches with a relatively hard-fought 25-14, 22-25, 25-12, 25-19 victory. The second-set loss was only the third for the Lady Eagles during their streak.

"I felt like Clovis exposed some of our weaknesses," Hobbs coach Stacy Williams said. "I don't feel like we played a terrible (match)."

In the end, the Lady Cats (7-14, 1-4) had few answers for 5-foot-10 sophomore outside hitter Aniya Joseph, who compiled 20 kills - one more than Clovis' team total - and added seven service aces.

"We played a pretty good ballgame tonight," CHS coach Darrel Ray said. "We know they're a good team. I think this is the best Hobbs team I've coached against.

"This team (Lady Cats) has been inconsistent all year, up and down. Tonight, Hobbs catches us on an 'up' night."

In reality, it looked like Clovis was in for a short night early on. The Lady Eagles controlled the first game, and were cruising with a 21-12 lead in the second set.

All of a sudden, Joseph & Co. lost it, sending attacks deep or missing the sideline. The Lady Cats went on a stunning 13-1 run to even the match.

Williams said her team, notably Joseph, got caught trying to make spectacular shots.

"She's an elite player, and she challenges herself," Williams said. "She missed some shots there, but in the end she was successful."

The momentum carried into the Game 3 for a while. Clovis got out to a 4-1 lead and was still tied 7-7 when junior outside hitter Wisdom Anthony's kill put Hobbs in front for good.

The Lady Cats were still within 14-12, but with senior defensive specialist Kamryn Cantu on the service line Joseph went back to work. She had four kills as Hobbs closed the set on an 11-0 run.

Hobbs led all the way in Game 4, although the Lady Cats pared an 18-10 deficit to just three down the stretch.

"Clovis played hard tonight," Williams said. "They played better tonight than they did at our place. Darrel does a good job, and you know his girls are always going to be coached."

Wisdom added nine kills for the Lady Eagles. Meantime, the Lady Cats got seven kills from senior outside hitter Mili Ratledge and six digs and 12 assists from sophomore setter Erin Creasy.

On Tuesday night, the Lady Cats erased a 2-0 deficit before Carlsbad dominated the fifth set to claim a 26-24, 25-19, 23-25, 12-25, 15-5 district victory at The Rock.

"We didn't do a good job on serve-receive in Game 1, and again in Game 5," Ray said.

Junior Gizelle Petner led the Lady Cats with nine kills, while Ratledge had seven kills and three blocks. Senior libero Hannah Gallegos posted 15 digs.

It was the Cavegirls' third win of the season over Clovis - two in district play, and the other in an early-season tournament. Ray said Carlsbad junior outside hitter Gracie Eckles gave his team problems as usual much of the night.

"We can't figure them out," he said of the Cavegirls (6-12, 2-2). "They've got a really good hitter in the Eckles girl, and she hurt us again tonight."

Clovis wraps up its season on Wednesday with a district clash at Roswell High.

Lady Rams outlast Artesia - Three players established season bests on Tuesday as Portales High, after seeing a 2-0 lead get away, came alive in the fifth set to take a 27-25, 25-18, 21-25, 23-25, 15-6 District 4-4A victory at Artesia.

The result left PHS (15-5, 2-1 district) in a three-way tie for the lead with the Lady Bulldogs (12-8, 2-1) and Roswell Goddard (16-4, 2-1).

Senior middle hitter Kylyie Paden had her usual solid night, collecting 20 kills, eight blocks, 14 digs and six aces against the Lady Bulldogs, while seniors Adrianna Garcia, Teagan Faust and Angelina Maestas all posted season-high totals with 15 kills, 35 digs and 28 assists, respectively.

"We played well and we were disciplined," Lady Rams coach Jacki Bailey said. "In Games 3 and 4, we got behind and we just couldn't push ahead" before dominating the fifth set.

Portales played at Goddard on Saturday, then finishes the regular season with matches at Lovington on Tuesday night and against Artesia at the Ram Athletic Center on Saturday.