Logan dominates Floyd

Hard-hitting Logan dominated Floyd 25-16, 25-14, 25-12 in the title match Saturday of the Tucumcari Invitational volleyball tournament at the Snake Pit.

Karli Webb, who had 13 kills and four serving aces for Logan (7-0) during the championship, was named Most Valuable Player of the eight-team tournament. Lady Longhorn teammates Jordan Hines, Kyndall Ragland and Julianna Garcia were named to the all-tournament team.

Grady-San Jon (3-5) finished fourth in the tournament after suffering losses to Floyd in the semifinal and Mescalero Apache in the third-place match. Isabelle Martinez and Teryn Foote of the Lady Bronchos were named to the all-tournament team.

After suffering a four-game loss to Mescalero in the opening round, Tucumcari (4-5) rebounded with victories over East Mountain and Mora to win the consolation title. Reese Goldston and Jasmine Jones earned all-tournament honors for the Lady Rattlers.

After the Lady Longhorns dispatched of East Mountain 25-12, 25-17, 25-13 in the tournament's first round Friday, they endured their first loss in a game this season during a 25-15, 24-26, 25-15, 25-14 match victory Saturday over Mescalero in the semifinal.

Logan coach Robert Young said the match against the Chiefs (4-1) helped his squad against Floyd during the final.

"We had a tough match against Mescalero," he said. "They played good defense against us. They caught us off-guard with some of their first or second hits. They tipped the ball really well into holes."

Logan, racing to double-digit leads early in all three games against Floyd (4-3), tallied many points by pounding home hard spikes. One Floyd defender visibly winced and grunted when a sizzling shot by Hines, who finished with 10 kills, bounced off her.

"Offensively, they hard a hard time stopping us," Young said. "We focused, and it showed."

After Tucumcari lost 16-25, 25-19, 24-26, 23-25 in the Friday opener to Mescalero, the Lady Rattlers bounced back with a 25-15, 25-21, 25-22 win over East Mountain and a 25-22, 25-16, 25-20 victory over Mora in Saturday's consolation matches.

The hard-hitting Jones logged 16 kills against East Mountain. Felicity Lopez and Mariah Ruvalcaba-Vasquez each made five kills against Mora.

Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez singled out Aaliyah Brown and Amber Owen for their strong blocking in both victories.

"Our middle blockers were on fire," Benavidez said. "The middle blockers gave us make-or-break moments for us. When Jasmine is in the back row, they have to step up."

After a Grady-San Jon's solid 25-23, 25-18, 25-21 win over Raton on Friday, the Lady Bronchos fell 20-25, 25-18, 18-25, 19-25 to Floyd in the semifinal and 15-25, 19-25, 24-26 in the third-place match Saturday.

"I think in both games today we errored ourselves out of games," Lady Bronchos coach Rebecca Burns said. "I'm not trying to take anything away from either team that beat us, but we had far too many mental mistakes, hitting errors, service errors, not getting to the tips."

Freshman Hannah Loudermill, who showed promise in Grady-San Jon's front row, injured her knee against Mora and had to be carried to the locker room after the match. Burns hoped she could return quickly.

"She brings some muscle to the floor, which is what we really need," Burns said. "That's why I like having her in the rotation."

Logan 3, Tucumcari 0

Logan's blocking and serving proved to be too much for Tucumcari during a 25-12, 25-11, 25-16 victory Thursday over the Lady Rattlers at the Snake Pit.

The Lady Longhorns made seven blocks and totaled 18 aces to keep the Lady Rattlers' attack off-balance for much of the match.

"Their blocking rattled us a bit," Benavidez said. "We didn't serve-receive well, and that's something we'll work on."

Tucumcari never led in the first two games and held a brief 13-9 lead in the third before Logan rallied.

Hines led Logan with 12 kills, and Webb added 10.

Lopez led Tucumcari with three kills.

Texico 3, Grady 0

Grady/San Jon suffered a 25-11, 25-3, 25-9 loss on the road during No. 1-ranked Texico's season opening match Sept. 3.

In the volleyball coaches' poll last week, Texico earned all 14 first-place votes in Class 2A and is the defending state champion.

Foote led the Lady Bronchos with five kills. Loudermill and Bailey Montoya each had four kills.