ARTESIA — The Portales Lady Rams battled back from a two-game deficit Thursday night, only to come up short in the end.

Trailing two games to none, Portales stayed alive by winning the next two games before the Lady Bulldogs finally nailed down a tight 27-25, 25-17, 22-25, 21-25, 15-13 victory.

Artesia (11-1), ranked seventh in the New Mexico High School Coaches Association Class 4A poll, extended its winning streak to nine matches. The Lady Bulldogs had lost only seven games since their only defeat of the season, a three-game sweep by Class 5A No. 4-ranked Las Cruces High on Sept. 4.

Portales, the No. 2-ranked team in Class 3A, fell to 6-6 for the season.

Lady Rams coach Ruth Chavez said her team has a number of chances to win the match, but couldn’t quite get over the hump.”

“We just let them hang on,” Chavez said. “Oone of the things we have to work on is finishing games.”

It was the fourth loss in a row for Portales, all against Class 4A competition.

The Lady Rams open District 4-3A competition on Tuesday at Dexter. They have a rematch with Artesia at home on Thursday, after which the remainder of their schedule will be in district play.