Athletic Artesia dominates Lady Cats

The Clovis Lady Wildcats took on one of the top teams in Class 4A Thursday night, and found out they have a ways to go to be competitive.

Artesia, ranked second in 4A, overcame a bevy of errors, especially early, to cruise to a 25-18, 25-18, 25-11 win over the Lady Cats at Rock Staubus Gym.

Artesia (6-1) had 10 service errors through the second set, compared with two for Clovis. But the Lady Bulldogs pounded out 25 kills in that time to just eight for CHS (2-4).

“They’re very athletic,” first-year CHS coach Gabe Apodaca said. “We kind of knew that coming in. That’s a group they’ve kind of been polishing (the last couple of years).”

Clovis had no answers for Artesia’s athletic front row players, perhaps the best of whom is junior Hannah Ballew. The 5-foot-3 outside hitter finished with match highs of 10 kills and five aces.

“No. 1 (Ballew) was on fire, both in the front row and on the back line,” Apodaca said.

Artesia coach Stacy Gowen said her team plays a high-risk style — most of its players use a jump-serve — and the Lady Bulldogs learn to live with the mistakes.

“We struggled with service errors and hitting errors in the first two games, but I think our girls played well tonight,” she said. “Gabe is doing a lot of things with his team. He’s going to get his program going.”

The Lady Cats had the services for the first time of junior transfer Kaleigh Mitchell, who transferred from Onate and had been required to sit out by the NMAA. The 5-foot-10 middle hitter, who had three kills in limited time off the bench, is able to play for now due to a temporary restraining order, but her case will be heard again Sept. 20 in Santa Fe, where a final decision is expected to be rendered.

Apodaca is hopeful, of course, of a positive resolution.

“We’re going to have to find something that can work with her, because I think she could be a fixture in our rotation,” Apodaca said.