Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Clovis High junior Brynn Petner, left, and senior Samantha Albert try to block an attack from Hobbs senior Kyndle Cunningham during Thursday's District 4-5A volleyball match at The Rock.
Clovis High's volleyball team is sure glad to have Ashlynn Evans back.
The senior outside hitter missed four matches with a shoulder issue before returning this week to help the Lady Wildcats win a pair of District 4-5A home matches.
Evans compiled 19 kills, three blocks, seven digs and a couple of aces on Thursday night as CHS defeated Hobbs 18-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-18 at Rock Staubus Gymnasium.
The Lady Cats (9-9 overall) now take on sixth-ranked Roswell High (18-1, 2-0) in a battle for the top spot on Tuesday at Roswell.
After dropping the opening set, Clovis led most of the rest of the match, although it had to fight off the Lady Eagles (9-9, 0-2) in Games 2 and 3.
"I think we played great," Evans said. "We had a little bit of a rough start, but we came out on top."
Lady Cats coach Cristy Hill sat Evans out after Portales' Peyton Chavez Invitational on Sept. 27-28. She had missed the team's previous four matches.
"We like to use her a lot," Hill said. "We have to take her out sometimes just to give her a break."
Evans said her shoulder is made progress in her second match back on the court.
"It felt pretty good," she said. "It was definitely stronger than Tuesday night."
Senior setter Amanda De La Rosa finished with 16 digs and 40 assists, while senior libero Jecenia Jimenez had a team-high 23 digs. Senior defensive specialist Jori Mondragon had 15 digs and a couple of aces, and junior outside hitter/setter Brynn Petner posted three blocks and a team-high four aces.
Senior middle blocker Jayla David had nine kills for the Lady Eagles, while senior outside hitter Kyndle Cunningham had eight kills and a couple of aces. Senior outside hitter Brianna Dunlap added six kills and junior libero Zayla Mitchell posted a team-high four aces.
Hill said the Lady Cats will have to be at the top of their game against Roswell High, the first of three consecutive road outings in district play.
"At Roswell, we can't make mistakes," she said. "They keep everything in play – we're going to have to dig, dig, dig. They wait for you to make mistakes."
Clovis 3, Carlsbad 2 (Tuesday) – The Lady Cats got off to a good start in district play with a 25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 25-27, 15-11 squeaker over the Cavegirls at The Rock.
Clovis led 21-14 in the fourth set before Carlsbad (7-11, 0-2) closed on an 11-2 surge. In Game 5, the Lady Cats rallied after trailing 7-3 and closed it out on a service ace by Renteria.
"We didn't serve-receive very well, but Brooke served the ball really good," Hill said.
Most of the match was a back-and-forth affair. Evans posted a season-best 23 kills and added three aces while Renteria had five kills, four blocks and three aces.
Meantime, Petner collected 14 digs Jimenez had 10 digs and four aces, Mondragon had eight digs and De La Rosa posted 43 assists.
