Long week on the road for MVHS Volleyball

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

Looking at a statsheet, last week’s trip to Reno’s High Sierra Tournament for the Moapa Valley High School Volleyball team may appear brutal. But Moapa’s head coach Mandie Matheson is determined to keep the focus on the real purpose of the tournament: to improve.

Before they could get to the tournament, the Pirates got an opportunity to meet the Pahranagat Valley Panthers on Tuesday, Aug. 28. With many shared bonds between the valleys, this annual matchup is always bound to be close, regardless of division. This time around, Moapa Valley would get the win they hoped for, but the Panthers pushed the match to four sets.

“It was nice to be able to play a longer game just to give us more time and experience on the court.” said Matheson. “It was a little rough at times getting everyone situated and learning roles but we did well.”

The tournament started on Friday with a trio of games against two California schools and one northern Nevada school. Just two teams in the tournament, aside from Moapa Valley, were from the 3A division or lower. The rest play a division higher.

The Pirates would be without two starters but still held on for a competitive day of action.
Moapa opened with a matchup against Harbor (CA), who defeated the Pirates in two sets.
Later on in the afternoon, the Pirates would face Galena, a 4A school from northern Nevada. Galena would defeat Moapa in a pair of sets as well.

This left the Pirates to finish their day against another California school, Cosumnes Oaks. Once more, Moapa fell in two sets.
Despite the losses, Matheson kept the team focused.

On the second day, the team appeared much stronger on the court. Two early morning losses to Atwater (CA) and Spanish Springs both would go to three full sets and were decided by just a few points.

Now 0-5 for the weekend and restless after two close losses, the Pirates were determined to bounce back against McQueen on their third game of the day. Despite a three set match, the Pirates would get their first win of the tournament. Each side traded 25-22 wins in the first sets. But the Pirates would get the last say with a 15-12 victory in the third set.

The day would end with a loss to Merill F. West (CA) in two sets later that night.
The overall volleyball talent at this tournament was higher than the team had seen. “None of the girls have been to this tournament,” Matheson said. “I knew what to expect so we knew it’d be an uphill road. The girls didn’t leave with many wins but they battled every team we played.”

Often, it may be hard for a team to bounce back after a tough weekend. But Matheson said her team is focused on the positive side of it, and the reason the team chose the tournament originally.
“We just talked a lot about perspective and not worrying about results more than our goals,” Matheson said. “We know our goals are to work hard and improve each match. It can be burdensome sometimes when losing, but they fought back when they got down.”