Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Melrose senior Chantzee Elliott goes up for a block against Clovis High junior Brynn Petner during Saturday's third-place match in the Peyton Chavez Invitational volleyball tournament at the Ram Athletic Center. The Lady Buffs defeated CHS in three games.
Portales High’s volleyball team claimed the championship in its eight-team Peyton Chavez Invitational on Saturday, defeating Las Vegas Robertson 25-12, 25-14, 19-25, 25-23 in the championship match at the Ram Athletic Center.
Portales (8-5) took the top seed from Pool A on Friday with a 5-1 record in games, then defeated Roswell Goddard 25-12, 12-19, 25-14 in Friday night’s bracket quarterfinals. The Lady Rams bested Melrose 25-12, 25-19, 25-13 in Saturday’s semifinals.
Portales bounced back from losses to Texas small-school powers Friona and Vega on Tuesday.
“It was a good weekend,” Lady Rams coach Bailey Greenwalt said. “Even from the beginning of the week, the kids learned a lot of things and we put that to good use this weekend.”
Melrose (8-2) took third place in the event with a 25-22, 25-14, 25-18 win over Clovis High (6-6). Texico (9-2) claimed fifth place, topping Goddard 27-25, 25-17, 25-23 in the final round.
Clovis was second in Pool A on Friday at 4-2, followed by Taos 3-3 and Moriarty 0-6. In Pool B, Robertson went 4-2, Melrose and Texico were both 3-3 and Goddard finished 2-4.
Junior Molly Ainsworth had 13 kills and three blocks for PHS against Robertson, while junior Skyler Massey collected 12 kills, 14 digs and three aces. Senior Myleigh Banda posted 21 assists, 10 digs and four aces while her sister, sophomore Delaynee Banda, added 19 assists.
In Friday’s win over Goddard, Massey had 18 kills, 10 digs, two blocks and three aces while Myleigh Banda posted six kills, 10 digs and 41 assists, senior Angel Ornelas had 22 digs and seven aces and Ainsworth notched 10 digs and five blocks.
Against Melrose, Massey and Ainsworth each had eight kills, Banda posted 24 assists and Ornelas notched 14 digs.
Defending Class 1A state champion Melrose (8-2) beat Taos 25-15, 25-23, 25-12 in Friday’s quarterfinals before losing to Portales and downing Clovis 25-22, 25-14, 25-18 for third place.
Junior Hally Draper had 12 kills, 10 digs and four aces for the Lady Buffs against Taos while senior Eden Lunsford posted 15 digs and sophomore Kailey Jackson notched 27 assists. Draper had 10 digs and Jackson collected 27 assists in the semis against PHS, while Draper had 11 kills, 16 digs and five aces and eight-grader Braylan Morgan tallies 10 kills against Clovis.
“It was great for us,” Lady Buffs coach Casey Jackson said of facing mostly larger schools in the meet. “I wish we’d given Portales a better (match), but we really played well all weekend.”
Clovis beat Texico 25-23, 25-19, 25-23 in the quarterfinal round before losing on Saturday to Robertson 25-15, 25-19, 25-21 in the semifinals and to Melrose in the third-place match.
Against Texico, the Lady Wildcats got 19 kills, two blocks and nine digs from junior Ashlynn Evans. Senior Jori Mondragon posted 12 digs and four aces, and senior Amanda De La Rosa had 24 assists.
For the Lady Wolverines (9-2), senior Aspyn Furrow had 11 kills and nine assists, junior Kailie Wieland notched five aces, 10 digs and 10 assists and senior Abby Haakma added 17 kills and five assists.
Evans had nine kills, two blocks and three aces against Robertson, while De La Rosa compiled nine digs and 20 assists. Against Melrose, De La Rosa had 10 digs and 29 assists and junior Sophie Roberts posted eight kills, while seniors Jecenia Jimenez and Brooke Renteria finished with 14 and 10 digs, respectively.
CHS coach Cristy Hill said a shoulder injury limited Evans in the match against Melrose.
“We were so good on Friday and not so good on Saturday,” Hill said. “It seemed like we were two different teams.”
Leading Texico on Saturday against Moriarty were senior Adalyn Autrey with nine kills and three blocks, Furrow with 10 assists, six kills and six aces, Haakma and junior Averi McKelvain with 16 and 15 digs, respectively, and Wieland with 11 assists.
In the win over Goddard, Autrey had 12 kills and seven blocks while Furrow posted 11 kills, 10 assists, 14 digs and three aces. Meantime, Haakma had 17 digs and McKelvain added eight.
Banda was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, while Ornelas, Evans, Draper and Furrow were chosen all-tournament along with Robertson senior Alyxa King-Greenwalt and Goddard junior Hailyn Haskins.
Portales returns to action on Friday and Saturday in a tournament hosted by Goddard, while Clovis plays at Santa Fe High on Tuesday. Meantime, Texico hosts Melrose on Thursday in the next outing for both teams.
