Prep volleyball: Rattlers eyeing district

After Tucumcari suffered a 25-20, 19-25, 20-25, 16-25 home loss Thursday to Fort Sumner that dropped the Lady Rattlers to 1-11 on the season, coach Dena Benavidez again said she no longer was fretting about her team’s regular-season win-loss record.

Fort Sumner’s coach can relate.

Vixens coach Michelle Bonds said in the last week, she no longer knew what her team’s record was (it’s 3-4) and instead told her players to consider upcoming matches as if they were season-openers.

“We had a rough stretch in practice and games,” Bonds explained. “We were getting down on ourselves and losing momentum. This week, we worked hard in practice to try to overcome that.”

Benavidez said she instead is looking ahead to the Tucumcari’s district-play schedule, which begins Oct. 18 against Dexter.

“We can’t focus on our win-loss record, either,” she said. “We have to focus on getting better for district.”

Tucumcari was plagued by serving and passing errors, but both coaches couldn’t help but notice the dominant play of Lady Rattlers hitter Jasmine Jones, who pounded home 20 kills during the match.

“Jasmine hit the ball phenomenally,” Benavidez said. “When she was in the front row, we scored and made runs. We have to capitalize on her.”

Bonds was impressed with Jones and the Lady Rattlers in general.

“I watched them at Santa Rosa earlier in the season, and they have improved so much,” she said.

In the first game, Tucumcari raced to a 20-12 lead and held on to win as the Vixens struggled with their passing and front-line play.

“It was just a sluggish start,” Bonds said. “Once we got going, we came on and did what we needed to do.”

Asserting its height advantage at the net, Fort Sumner forged early leads in the next three games. Tucumcari struggled with its passes, often directing the ball too far into the teeth of the Vixens’ defense for easy blocks or kills.

In the fourth and deciding game, the Lady Rattlers committed six serving errors. That turned what should have been a close game into a relatively easy victory for the Vixens.

Tucumcari’s junior varsity lost to Fort Sumner 8-25, 11-25.

On Sept. 18, Tucumcari lost at home 23-25, 18-25, 21-25 to East Mountain, which improved to 4-4.