JHS Volleyball loses at Tularosa

By John Earp

The Lady Wildcats (6-3), ranked #4 in the state AA, came out swinging in their non-district match against the Lady Panthers (5-6; ranked #13 in NMAA 2A) last Saturday in Tularosa, putting 15 points on the board to Jal’s 6 before Coach Nichole Segovia called a timeout. The Lady Panthers continued to struggle to keep up, especially with returning the Ladycats’ very strong serves. The Ladycats appeared to have a significant height as advantage as well, with excellent vertical leaping ability and the consequent ability to spike quite well. The final score of the first match was 25-8.

The Lady Panthers were able to improve their performance in the second game, with some great digs and better serves, scoring 10 points to the Ladycats’ 20. The Lady Panthers nevertheless were not able to prevail over the Ladycats’ very skilled and dominant play. The final score of the second game was 25-13.

Jal jumped ahead in the third game, scoring the first point. The Ladycats quickly put two on the board, but then gave up a point by hitting the net on an attempted spike. The Lady Panthers showed real spunk when they pulled ahead for the first time in the match, 5-4. The Ladycats then regained their composure, pulling back ahead 8-5 with some excellent serves and volleys. The Lady Panthers fought hard in the third game, but were still unable to keep up with the consistently strong Ladycats’ game. Final score of the third game was 25-10 with the near-perfect Tularosa volleyball team winning the match 3-0.