Logan wins second tournament in two weeks, third in their sights

link During the Lady Rattlers Volleyball tournament on Sept. 5, Lady Longhorn’s Kaylee Foote moves to block the hit from Lady Panther’s Jeanie Montoya. Other Lady Longhorns move to anticipate a block or a pass. Coach Robert Young said the Lady Longhorns footwork on defense has been improving.

Thomas Garcia

QCS Senior Writer

The (7-1) Logan Lady Longhorns will roll into the Cimmaron tournament Friday and Saturday with a record of two first place finishes in tournament play in the past two weeks.

The Lady Longhorns beat the host Vixens Saturday in five sets (25-23,16-25,25-23,13-25,15-10) in the championship match of the Fort Sumner tournament.

“The girls were mentally tougher in this tournament,” said Robert Young, Lady Longhorns head coach.

Young said the win is a great boost for the team, though the real benefit was being able to play against two of their district opponents, Fort Sumner and Melrose, early in the season as well as many talented 2A teams in pool play.

“This gave us a chance to see the systems of quality teams like Magdalena and Hagerman, teams we will see further down the road,” Young said.

Young said he was pleased over all with the way the Lady Longhorns played during the tournament. He said there are still some areas, such as serving, that the team needs to work on, but the team executed offense well and kept their feet moving on defense.

“You really can’t ask for much more as a coach than the way they played as a team,” Young said. “We still have issues with serves going out or into the net but I’m confident they will correct that problem as the seasons progresses.”

Young said the Lady Longhorns will have a chance to see Dora, the only district opponent they have yet to play, in action at the Cimmaron Tournament. He said watching these teams play early on will help them when the district run begins.

Before the tournament, the Lady Longhorns will play at 4:30 p.m., Thursday against the San Jon Lady Coyotes at San Jon.

Game time: 4:30 p.m. Thursday at San Jon

The (2-3) Tucumcari Lady Rattlers beat the (0-3) Lady Coyotes Saturday at San Jon.

The Lady Rattlers won the game in four sets (25-15,25-18,14-25,25-14) one of three wins that Lady Rattlers head coach Lawrence Sena said the team would earn over the next two weeks.

Sena said the team did well during their home tournament on Sept. 5 and 6, where they got to see many talented teams. He said the Lady Rattlers had to address an issue with unforced errors and make opposing teams earn any points scored against the Rattlers.

The Lady Rattlers next game will be at 5 p.m. Thursday at Dexter

The Lady Coyotes next game will be at 4:30 p.m., vs Logan

The (1-4) House Cowgirls will face the (3-1) Mosquero Lady Pirates at 5 p.m., Thursday at House.

The Lady Cowgirls lost their last match in three sets (25-7, 25-25,25-15) Sept. 9 to the Corona Lady Cardinals.

Game time 5 p.m. Thursday, against Mosquero