The Artesia Lady Dogs volleyball team has a tough mission: They are the No. 6 seed in the 2026 Rudy’s Real Texas Bar-B-Q State 4A Volleyball Championships.
The Lady Dogs will face the No. 11 seed Santa Teresa Lady Warriors at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Rio Rancho Event Center.
Seeding no surprise to coach
“I believed the ranking would fall between No. 5 and No. 8,” Artesia coach Alan Williams said. “It is not a surprise because Los Alamos and Silver were both district champions, and we were runners-up, and their records were better than ours.”
The Lady Dogs split with Santa Teresa in pool play earlier this season in Las Cruces, Williams said.
Path through the bracket
If the Lady Dogs get past Santa Teresa, they will face No. 3 seed Goddard, a team they have yet to beat this season.
The tournament is double elimination, so if the Lady Dogs lose, they will have another chance to reach the championship round by going undefeated the rest of the way.
Williams recalled that in 2024, the team barely qualified, received the No. 11 seed and played for the state championship before losing to St. Pius X in three sets. Artesia finished the year 16-12.
A championship is possible
Artesia won the state title in 2021, just five years ago, entering the tournament that year as the No. 7 seed.
Williams said the team must go play and not overlook any opponent.
“It really does not matter with the double elimination,” Williams said. “Anything can happen.”
On their side of the bracket, the Lady Dogs could face two District 4-4A opponents, Goddard and Portales.
Williams said he wants his team to play and have fun. He thinks the tournament is a reward for a good season, which the Lady Dogs had, going 15-8 and 3-3 in District 4-4A.
Artesia volleyball player Quinley Murray goes for a kill shot against Lovington on Thursday at the Bulldog Pit.
Cleaning up the errors
Williams said the Lady Dogs’ losses this season came from mistakes.
“We make a lot of serving errors,” Williams said. “We have to not make errors, especially at the net — and hitting errors.”
Artesia’s quest for another state title begins Thursday.
JT Keith can be reached at 575-420-0061 or on X at @JTKEITH1.
