By STEPHANIE BUNKER
Moapa Valley Progress
The Pirate Volleyball Team played an intense match at home against Boulder City on Tuesday, October 7. They were defeated in the match but it was a great ball game that put the girls on both teams in some high pressure situations.
The Pirates stayed a few points behind Boulder during the entire first game and eventually lost 25-19. Pirate Coach Mandie Matheson commented that the team struggled with communication in the first game. But the Lady Pirates pulled it together and played with intensity and drive the rest of the match.
The Pirates stepped up and lead the second game to a win 25-21.
The Pirate crowd thought the home team had the third game in the bag when the score was 24-21 in the Pirates favor. But the Lady Pirates struggled to achieve game point. Instead, the Eagles held the Pirates scoreless for a time and crept up in points.
The score was 24-23, the Pirates team needed just one point to win. Both sides were fighting for it. The crowd sat on the edge of their seats as the longest volley in the game took place. After a few minutes of the ball getting tossed back and forth over the net, the Eagles won the point prolonging the game further. Disappointed after losing the battle for game point, the Pirates lost control of the ball two times giving the win to the Eagles 26-24.
The Pirates led the majority of the fourth game until they hit a road block. They struggled to make any points while the Eagles racked up seven points against them. The Pirates ended up losing the game, 25-20, and the match 3-1.
Coach Matheson said, “I am pleased with the intensity and overall play of my girls.” She attributed losing the game to the many serving errors that were made.
JaLea Blasingame and Eden Whitmore had a good game with 10 blocks and 9 kills, Cheyenne Leavitt had 10 kills and 27 digs. Marissa Perez had 32 digs and Aria Messer made 28 assists.
On Thursday October 9 the Pirates traveled to Desert Pines and won the match in 3 games; 25-13, 25-15, and 25-17. Matheson said they improved their serving by that night and also passed better. Cheyenne Leavitt had 9 kills and 7 aces and Eden Whitmore made 9 kills.
Come out tonight (Wednesday Oct. 15) at 6:00 pm. The Lady Pirates will be playing the Virgin Valley Bulldogs. This match should be an intense and fun one to see. The last match the Pirates played against the Bulldogs went into 5 games and they turned up the pressure.