Pecos surprisingly falls in volleyball in four sets at Texico Saturday, 18-25, 27-25, 12-25, 14-25, to drop its District 7-2A record to 1-1 and suffer only its second setback in 15 matches.

By Arnie Leshin 

It wasn’t expected, but when you play on the road, anything can occur.

 

Such was the case Saturday when Pecos’ District 7-2A volleyball leader took its match to Texico and lost in four sets, 18-25, 27-25, 12-25, 14-25, to even its district mark at 1-1 and fall to 13-2 overall.

 

Meanwhile, Texico played its best match of the season as it advanced to 9-6 overall and 2-0 in district, with its third-straight win. The Panthers had seven and 5-match win streaks before this and will meet up with Texico at home on Oct. 21.

 

Senior Macki Bilbrey came away with 14 assists for the home side, and 5-foot-10 junior Rachel Phills turned in 16 kills and 5-9 senior Gemma Martin added seven blocks and three aces.

 

For Pecos, which plays at winless Clayton Tuesday, freshman Mistidawn Roybal led the way in assists with 13, and senior Sabiva Herrera contributed 11 kills and four blocks. The Panthers’ previous setback was 3-0 to Moriarty in the Santa Fe Indian School tournament.

 

Only in the second set did Pecos play well in holding on for a 27-25 win, but in the other sets, it was outscored 75-44.

 

In other volleyball matches, Capital swept past visiting Espanola Valley, 25-11, 25-9, and 25-19, to improve to 9-4 overall and drop the Sundevils to 3-9.

 

Up at Raton in District 2-3A play, Santa Fe Indian School came away with a 3-1 victory on scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-9, 25-17, and upped its overall record to 5-10 and 2-2 in district, while the Tigers toppled to 1-10 and 1-3.