Number one Rio Rancho again proved to be more than the Cleveland Storm volleyball could handle Tuesday evening, as the visiting Rams claimed their second sweep of the Storm in as many meetings.

The two Rio Rancho teams could meet again in this week’s District 1-5A tournament, in which the Rams (14-4) play host to the championship match Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

Rio Rancho’s latest victory over the 10th-ranked Storm in a “Dig Pink” fundraiser clinched the regular-season title for RRHS.

Letisha Spencer (4) and Mackenzie Clark combine for a block against the Storm Tuesday evening in the Cleveland gym.

The Rams, 12-4 after winning their 11th match in a row, also swept the Storm (11-8, 4-3 before match with WM) when the teams met at Rio Rancho High School on Oct. 8, started out slowly but caught fire late in the first game and never were threatened.

Neither team led by more than three points in the opening game, last led by the Storm, 18-16. Rio Rancho went on a 9-0 run, eight points coming off serves by Darian Mullen, to win 25-18.

A 7-0 run in the second game, after Cleveland scored the game’s first two points, gave the Rams the lead to keep. A 7-1 run later gave Rio Rancho a commanding 18-9 lead, and Letisha Spencer served up the final two points for a 25-12 victory.

The Rams seemed to show they had no interest in anything less than a sweep, opening the third game with a 13-4 outburst. The Storm rallied late, pulling within four at 22-18, but a block gave the Rams a 23-18 lead and the serve. A dink by Mackenzie Clark took the Rams to match point, but Cassy Schaffer erred on a serve to make it 24-19.

Not to worry: A Clark kill ended the game, 25-19.

The match took barely an hour to complete.

“We didn’t do the simple things very well. I don’t think we served real aggressive in game one,” coach Toby Manzanares said. “I thought our three-ball rotation was slow and we have multiple people trying to dig the same ball. We asked them to be a little bit quicker, we asked them to serve tougher, we asked them to get the ball faster and faster in system so we could run a faster offense and I thought we did a better job of that, as well as serving tougher.”

On Oct. 24, the Rams traveled to Las Cruces, where they engaged in a five-game match for the second Saturday in a row, following their rally from a 0-2 deficit to beat La Cueva.

This time, Las Cruces faced a 0-2 deficit, losing the first two games 25-20, 25-17, then rallying to win games three and four, 25-19, 25-22, to set up a fifth game. The Rams survived another scare, winning that one 16-14.

Mullen led the way, as usual, with a team-high 17 kills, while Brooklyn Boughter had 10 kills and Spencer and Jayla Trombley combined for 17 more.

“We played pretty well; we served aggressive,” Manzanares said of the road trip to Las Cruces. “In games one and two, we were up pretty handily. In game three, Las Cruces just stepped up the serving – they served real aggressively. They gave us some fits and we just never recovered in game three.

“(Game four) was really close. We had tied at 20, with the serve – gave up the serve and give up a three-point run and ended up losing,” he recalled. “It was a battle. In game five, I think we went up 5-3, up 13-10, 13-11. We had four match points, I believe. They hung in there. We had a block and then a kill and they had an error, ending the match.”

On Thursday evening, celebrated as Senior Night, the Rams beat visiting No. 6 Cibola (14-6, 5-3) for their 64th consecutive home court victory.

Rio Rancho, which last lost a home match in September of 2002, seemed set for another sweep, winning the first two games 25-9, 25-19, before faltering in the third game and falling, 25-22.

The fourth game was filled with excitement, as the teams went back and forth with numerous ties until a service fault by the Cougars, who then returned a ball into the net, put the Rams at match point, 24-22.

It was the first of five match points the Rams had, finally winning on the fifth attempt. Meanwhile, Cibola had service for game point three times before two unforced Cougars errors – an attempted kill that sailed long and the ensuing point winding up in the net – gave the Rams a 32-30 victory.

Mullen had another 17 kills, and Spencer and Boughter combined for 17 more, and Trombley had seven. Boughter had a team-high 22 digs, Schaffer had 20 and Trombley added 10 digs.

Asked to guess the team most likely to face his team in what would be its ninth straight 5A championship match on Nov. 14, Manzanares hedged and said it’d probably come from the usual suspects: La Cueva, Las Cruces and Mayfield. He wouldn’t discount Cibola’s chances, either.

“It doesn’t matter who we play if we’re not going to ball-control and make silly errors,” he said. “If we can cut those in half, we have the opportunity to be a much better team.

“Credit Cibola,” he said after Thursday’s meeting. “I’m just tired of giving up senseless points.”

Dinks: The Storm won the C team match, 25-19, 25-9, and the JV match, 26-24, 25-23, Tuesday before the varsity match. Cibola beat the Rams’ frosh in two games but the Rams’ JV team defeated the Cougars, 2-1.

… A Storm player was misidentified in a recent photo in the Oct. 18 issue of the Observer. Cassie House was the player leaping high in the photo. The Observer regrets the error.

… The Rams were scheduled to entertain the No. 1 team in Class 4A, Goddard, yesterday at the Rams Athletic Center.

... The Storm open District 1-5A tournament action Wednesday in their own gym at 6:30 p.m. against an opponent yet to be decided -- either Gallup or West Mesa.

… The entire Class 5A state tournament will be played at Santa Ana Star Center, where the championship match is slated for Nov., 14 at 6 p.m. The Rams have appeared in the last eight title tilts, winning five times.