Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Melrose senior Eden Lunsford sends a pass to the front row during Saturday's Class 1A state semifinal volleyball match against Quemado at Rio Rancho Event Center. The defending 1A champion Lady Buffs lost in five sets to the Lady Eagles, who went on to sweep top-seeded Logan in the finals and claim the title.
RIO RANCHO – Seeking a second consecutive Class 2A state volleyball championship, Texico had to get past a team it had already beaten in three sets the day before.
After dropping a tight one in the first set, the Lady Wolverines found their stride and posted a 23-25, 25-14, 25-18, 25-10 victory over third-seeded Mesilla Valley at Rio Rancho Event Center, wrapping up the school's 18th state volleyball title all-time.
Meantime, Melrose fell short in its bid for a repeat in Class 1A. After erasing 2-0 deficits in its first two outings, the Lady Buffs weren't able to pull it off in Saturday's semifinals in a 25-22, 25-20, 25-27, 24-26, 17-15 loss to third-seeded and eventual champion Quemado.
Junior Kinzee Crow and senior Aspyn Furrow posted double-doubles in both matches. Crow finished the day with 31 kills and 51 digs while Furrow had 18 kills, 45 assists, nine aces and 45 assists in the two matches.
"We knew they were going to give us a better game today," Crow said of the Las Cruces-based SonBlazers (23-4). "We just knew we had to stay strong out there and play it a point at a time."
Texico coach Gabe Jones said Mesilla Valley was ready for the challenge.
"They were pumped," he said. "They were ready tonight. We got served better and we played better, but we played great defense."
Senior Adalyn Autrey had nine kills and a block against Laguna (21-5). and added 13 kills and four blocks in the win over Mesilla Valley.
The SonBlazers scored the final three points of Game 1 to take the lead, but Texico stormed back.
"We had some nerves that first set (against Mesilla)," Crow said. "But we just settled down and we were fine."
In 1A, Melrose (19-7) was denied an 11th consecutive trip to the small-school state final by the third-seeded Lady Eagles (23-4), who got hot at just the right time and went on to sweep top-seeded Logan for the tournament championship.
"We had to battle from behind all weekend, but we did battle," Lady Buffs coach Casey Jackson said. "That last set (against Quemado) was just point-for-point."
Melrose opened a 5-0 lead early in game one before the Lady Eagles rallied.
"We were hitting the ball well," Jackson said. "We just couldn't put balls away."
Eighth-grader Braylan Morgan had 14 kills and 11 digs for the Lady Buffs. Senior Kambree Draper also posted a double-double with 14 digs and 10 kills while her cousin, junior Hally Draper, had seven kills, 24 dig, three blocks and seven of the team's 12 aces.
Sophomore Kailey Jackson posted 41 assists and 14 digs, senior Chantzee Elliott delivered nine kills and two blocks and senior Tylee Hill chipped in 11 digs.
"Quemado peaked at the right time, but I felt we played our best volleyball of the year out here," coach Jackson said. "We were hitting the ball well, we just couldn't put balls away."
