High hopes for Tucumcari volleyball

Last season, Tucumcari's volleyball team came within an eyelash of winning the district title and forced a tiebreaking match to decide the crown.

This year, coach Dana Benavidez thinks her Lady Rattlers can win the Class 3A-4 crown outright against Dexter, a young team that struggled last season, and Tularosa, which lost its best hitter to graduation.

"If we hit like we know how and like we're practicing, we'll be the dominant team in our district. I really believe that," she said.

Tucumcari hosts Santa Rosa during its season-opener after the junior varsity plays at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Snake Pit.

The Lady Rattlers logged an unimpressive-looking 7-16 record last year, but that was partly due to playing a slew of state-ranked teams that included Logan, Melrose, Santa Fe Indian and Grady. Tucumcari caught fire late in the year and tied for first in its district with Tularosa before losing the tiebreaker match.

"We really started putting it together," Benavidez said of the late-season surge. "I think we'll be able to drive off last year's successes at the very end."

One of the key returning starters is senior outside hitter Jasmine Jones, who totaled 240 kills last season and is drawing interest from Division II universities.

"I can't even tell the last time there has been volleyball offers made for anybody in Tucumcari," Benavidez said. "Anyone who can play at the next level is really good. She's really a strong, strong hitter. She's a good back-row player, too. She's just an amazing athlete."

Jones injured her knee early last season but worked to strengthen it and returned to the lineup quickly.

"She went to a lot of physical therapy for it, and that helped her," Benavidez said. "She used to try to land on one leg and not try to come down on that knee. But now she's landing on both feet and jumping off both feet, and that helps drive her vertical leap."

Also returning this year are middle blocker Aaliyah Brown, outside hitter Mariah Vasquez, outside hitter Felicity Lopez and setter Reece Goldston.

"Our strength is our hitting," Benavidez said. "Jasmine and Felicity are our outside hitters, and they're amazing outside hitters. And Aaliyah in the middle has improved her vertical leap, and that's really helped her. She's so high above the net; it really benefits her when she's playing up front."

The only downside of note is Tucumcari has only 22 players who went out for volleyball, compared to 30 the previous years. Also, Benavidez said she's still looking for a libero, or a defensive specialist, for the varsity lineup.

But Benavidez is encouraged by the offseason work her team put in during summer ball or camps at Texico, Moriarty and Alamosa State University in Colorado.

"I feel that's helped us. I feel when we start our first game, it's not going to be like a first game, with all the games we played all summer. I think that will help us tremendously."

Logan

The Lady Longhorns, who open their season during the Logan Invitational on Aug. 29, have won two consecutive state titles, but they're expecting another dogfight in their rugged district, especially from perennial state-title contender Melrose.

Logan defeated Melrose four out of five times last season, including during the Class 1A title match. Logan coach Robert Young said the Lady Buffaloes look strong again.

"I don't think they lost hardly any seniors at all," he said. "We played them in league ball this summer, and they looked really good. They caught us off-guard with their offense a few times. I think they're the team to beat in our class overall."

Logan lost five seniors to graduation from last year's 21-3 squad. One key returning player is 5-foot-11 senior Karli Webb, who led the team with 340 kills but suffered a serious knee injury during basketball season. She's worked to rehabilitate the surgically repaired leg so she can be ready for volleyball.

"She's coming back slow, but we're building her back up," Young said of Webb's progress. "She's looking pretty good, really. We just have to watch if she gets tired. I can kind of tell when she's starting to drag, and I'll pull her out. Her skills still are pretty good; it's just a matter of getting her knee stronger."

Young said one of his team's weaknesses this year is size, which may sound strange because the Lady Longhorns still are blessed with tall players in the front row.

"We're just not as tall as we have been," he said. "In the past, we've had six girls of pretty good size out there all the time. And our passing has to be a little bit better this year. We probably won't get away bad passes. A lot of times last year, we were able to make plays on passes that weren't that good. That's something we'll have to work on."

Grady/San Jon

Grady/San Jon, which opens its season Saturday at Grady against Des Moines, lost four key seniors from a 13-11 state-tournament team last year, including Yara Sotelo, who led the team in kills and blocks.

That team had no juniors and a slew of sophomores. Now with a junior-dominated roster, Lady Bronchos coach Rebecca Burns sees a big upside to her team as those players' skills develop.

"The girls have been working hard, and I think it's going to be a pretty good year for us," Burns said. "I thought there'd be a learning curve with those four seniors leaving, but these guys picked up where those four left off last year. They work hard, and they've been playing tough throughout the summer, so I think they'll be OK."

Teryn Foote, who gained notice during summer ball, will be Grady/San Jon's biggest hitter. Burns said she expects good things from her passers and servers.

"In our district, we have to stress passing the most because we go against so many great hitters. But we've got some hitters too this year," Burns said.

Playing in a district that includes Logan, Melrose, Fort Sumner and Clovis Christian will help toughen her team, Burns said.

"One of the greatest things I felt pride in last year was our district because we got four teams to the state tournament," she said. "I hope to see something like that this year - that we'll all be competitive; all five us should be pretty solid. It's just going to be a grind to see who gets that ticket to go (to state)."