Lady Rams notch district sweep at Lovington

LOVINGTON — Portales High volleyball coach Jacki Bailey was just happy to see her team get on the board in District 4-4A.

Facing a struggling Lovington squad on Thursday night, Portales was in control most of the way en route to a 25-18, 25-21, 25-16 victory over the Lady Wildcats (3-15, 0-2 district).

“We’re glad to come out and get a win,” Bailey said. “We were able to kind of experiment a little with some girls in different spots. Offensively, we moved the ball pretty well.”

Senior Cyria Aguirre had 12 digs, while junior Alondra Acosta and sophomore Myleigh Banda posted 11 apiece for PHS (8-11, 1-1). Banda finished with a double-double (10 assists), while Acosta led the team with a personal-best four aces.

Freshman Skyler Massey had a team-leading six kills, while senior Maebri Knox also finished with 10 assists.

On Tuesday, the Lady Rams dropped a 25-19, 25-22, 25-12 district-opening decision at top-ranked Roswell Goddard (15-4, 2-0 after beating Artesia on Thursday night).

Bailey said her squad simply make too many mistakes to stay with a strong opponent.

“In Game 1, we had six (service) errors,” she said. “In Game 2 we competed hard; we just put ourselves in too much of a hole.”

She said the Lady Rams kept the third set close for a while before the Lady Rockets pulled away.

Senior Emma Long led PHS with seven kills, while junior Audrey Paden had six. Acosta posted 11 digs and two aces.

Portales opens a three-match homestand at the Ram Athletic Center this week, hosting Artesia, before welcoming Goddard on Thursday.

Girls soccer — At Lovington, the host Lady Wildcats got a pair of goals from sophomore defender Kiarra Reza in claiming a 3-0 District 4-4A win over PHS.

Reza broke the ice in the seventh minute, and added another tally around the middle of the second half. Junior midfielder/defender Mia Contraras scored just after halftime to give the Lady Wildcats (3-15-0, 2-4 district) a two-goal advantage.

“We did some good things,” PHS coach Bonnie Britton said. “We tried some different things. It’s been a disappointing season, but there have been glimmers here and there.”

The Lady Rams (0-13-4, 0-5) were to finish their season on Saturday at district-leading Roswell Goddard.

Boys soccer — Portales’ season came to an end on Thursday with a 4-2 district setback to Artesia at the PHS pitch.

The Bulldogs (12-8, 2-4) scored early in the second half for a 3-0 lead before the Rams (4-12, 0-6) got on the board on a breakaway goal from freshman forward/midfielder Adrian Jaquez. After another Artesia tally, PHS sophomore midfielder Anthony Cordova closed the margin with a goal in the 75th minute.

“We played pretty hard,” Rams coach Ruben Tellez said. “We did a lot of things well. We just had a couple of breakdowns.

“The kids played their hears out all year.”