Lady Cats triumph at Lovington

LOVINGTON – The preliminaries are over for Clovis High’s volleyball team, which begins District 4-5A action on Tuesday at home against Carlsbad.

The Lady Wildcats take a 7-9 overall record into district competition after polishing off Lovington 25-21, 25-18, 25-23 on Thursday night.

Playing without senior outside hitter Ashlynn Evans (shoulder) and senior middle hitter Maricella Gutierrez (broken foot), the Lady Cats controlled their third match of the campaign with winless Lovington (0-15) most of the way.

Lovington closed to 24-23 late in the third set, but junior outside hitter/defensive specialist Sophie Roberts ended it with a kill on match point.

“We didn’t serve-receive very well tonight, and we let them back in it,” CHS coach Cristy Hill said.

Senior outside hitter Samantha Albert led Clovis in kills with five, followed by Roberts with four, while senior middle blocker Brooke Renteria notched five blocks.

“I felt like (we) were relaxed tonight,” Hill said of her squad. “They didn’t seem to get as frustrated as they have at times.”

Senior libero/defensive specialist Jecenia Jimenez and junior outside hitter/setter Brynn Petner each had eight digs for the Lady Cats, and led the squad in aces with four and three, respectively. Senior setter Amanda De La Rosa posted 15 assists.

Roswell High enters district play with a 15-1 record and ranked sixth in Class 5A, while Hobbs is 9-7 and Carlsbad is also 7-9.