Prep roundup: Pecos finally beats rival Mora, breaks skid

Sept. 03--The Pecos Lady Panthers chose to break an almost-four year losing streak the hard way.

They had not beaten the Mora Rangerettes in volleyball since 2010, but needed a 25-19, 22-25, 25-18, 25-23 win in Louis G. Sanchez Memorial Gymnasium to vanquish an eight-match losing skid. That it made Pecos 2-0 on the young season was just the cherry on top of the victory sundae.

The only downside to the day was that the win won't have the impact like it used to.

"I know they're not in our district any more, but it's still a rivalry to me," said Leonard Velasquez, Lady Panthers head coach. "That's not going away, and the girls were pretty excited about it."

The Rangerettes took Game 2 and forged a 14-7 lead in the third game when Pecos finally snapped out of its slumber. The Lady Panthers scored the next nine points and finished with an 18-4 run to re-take momentum.

"That shows a lot for these girls," Velasquez said. "Last year's team would have given up."

Senior hitters Ida Valencia and Janine Montoya had 15 and 10 kills, respectively; while the setting duo of Cassie CdeBaca (15 assists) and Megan Armijo (13 assists) were equally effective at setting up the offense.

West Las Vegas 3, Raton 0

The Lady Dons are a serve in progress.

They had eight service errors in a 25-13, 25-6, 25-12 sweep of the Lady Tigers in Raton, but the difference was subtle -- yet clear.

West Las Vegas (2-1) was perfect on serve in Game 2, which also was its most dominant game. Jenika Padilla led the ace parade with five.

"We're serving really aggressive," said Lady Dons head coach Karli Salazar via text message. "We just need to make our serves consistently."

The offense looked crisp, as middle hitter Jaylen Gutierrez had 12 kills, while outside hitter Deanna Bustos added eight. Sarah Gold had 17 assists from her setter spot.

St. Michael's 3, Las Vegas Robertson 2

In Perez-Shelley Memorial Gymnasium, the host Lady Horsemen opened their season in dramatic style by rallying for a five-set winner against the Lady Cardinals, taking it 8-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-21, 15-4.

Hitters Allie Berhost (10 kills) and Danielle Trujillo (seven) led the way at the net for St. Michael's, while Lanie Serna had 16 assists and Paulette Griego added 11.

The big difference, however, came from Miranda Lovato.

"She came off the bench in that third game and played great for us the last three games," said St. Michael's head coach Steve Long. "She had seven or eight passes right in a row, and it turned things around for us. Until then we just weren't doing our serve-receive game well."

Trailing 19-17 in the fourth game, the Lady Horsemen rallied for the win to force a decisive set.

That one was all St. Michael's thanks to an 8-0 run that put it away early.

"We played all 12 girls on the team those first three games but once we settled into the top seven for the last two or three games, we did well," Long said. "After we won that fourth game, we knew had them on their heels a little bit."

Boys soccer

Albuquerque Bosque School 3, Monte del Sol 1

The Dragons got their biggest test of the season when they visited the Bobcats for a nondistrict match on Tuesday.

Monte del Sol (3-2) struck first when senior Skye Dascher scored in the 15th minute. Bosque scored twice before halftime and held a 2-1 lead at the break.

The Dragons had plenty of time to tie the match, but a Bosque goal in the 70th was the insurance it needed for the win. After the match, Bosque head coach Klaus Weber approached Monte del Sol head coach Mazatl Galindo to tell him he respected his program, as both teams made it to last year's Class A-AAA semifinals.

"It was an excellent test for us," Galindo said. "They know we're here to play soccer and not here just to see what happens."

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