| By Jonathan Oglesby Moapa Valley Progress Published September 3, 2008
Last season, Moapa Valley Volleyball finally got back to a level where the past Pirates were accustomed to playing: the State Championship level. Now that the benchmark has been set, the athletes who will represent Moapa Valley High School on the court of the Gary Batchelor Gymnasium this fall are eager to make sure that the bar is raised even higher for the coming years. |
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| Over the past few weeks, the Lady Pirates have been busy working hard in their practices and focusing on areas ranging from basic volleyball principles to team chemistry and strategy. All of these points can be huge in determining whether a team has the tools to win a Division and State Championship.
With the season set to begin this week, the intensity level has been high at practice. “I like the way we’ve practiced,” said Head Coach Matt Messer. “We have good team chemistry and we are pretty balanced as a team.” Messer is in his tenth season as volleyball coach and ranks third all-time in the Nevada Record Books with five state titles as a coach. While Moapa Valley will play in several prestigious tournaments including the Las Vegas Invitational and the High Sierra Invitational in Reno, the real focus this season is on the Southern 3A division which is going to be hotly contested this year. “The division is going to be solid this year,” Messer said. “Faith Lutheran lost some of their stars but they always have good talent, Virgin Valley is going to continue to improve, and Boulder City will be decent if they can put a team around their stars. So we are going to have a fight on our hands.” |
| The fight for the Southern 3A title is going to be of significant interest to Lady Pirate Volleyball fans this season because Moapa Valley High School is hosting the 2008 Southern 3A Division Tournament. That means that the Lady Pirates will have the benefit of home court advantage during the entire tournament and might have the extra push they need in order to advance to the Championship Match and beyond. In his discussion of the upcoming tournament, Coach Messer was excited and emphasized how much a loud crowd could do for the Lady Pirates in a pressure situation. “If we |  |
| can get a loud, passionate crowd like we used to get for these types of matches, we could do some real damage,” explained Messer.
Overall, the coaching staff and players are excited for the challenges that await them and the rewards which they can attain. “Our motto is to keep the ball in play and to not score points for the other team,” Messer said. “If we can do that, we’re gonna be solid. All I can say is that we have a lot of experience and we should be fun to watch,” commented Messer. |
