Pirates Bruised Not Broken At Notorious Tournament

By GANNON HANEVOLD

Moapa Valley Progress

The Moapa Valley High School Volleyball team played in the Durango Fall Classic last weekend, one of the most prestigious of preseason tournaments in the United States. Despite being one of the smallest schools attending, the young Pirates put up their best fight.

In the two day tournament, the Pirates started their weekend with pool play on Friday. Three games kicked things off for Moapa. The first day was a tough one.
“I think day one was definitely the most difficult because you’re put in really tough pools,” said MVHS Head Coach Mandie Matheson. “I think every pool was tough and the girls actually exceeded my expectations.”

The first game of the day was against St. Ignatius from California. The first of many California schools Moapa would face defeated the Pirates in two sets. The second set wasn’t a pretty way for the Pirates to start their challenging weekend, losing 25-5.

The second match of the day came against another California school, Los Alamitos. The Pirates put up a much tougher fight and narrowly lost their first set by only a couple of points. But they fell short once again in the second set.

With an 0-2 record, Moapa Valley headed into their marquee matchup of the weekend. One of the highest ranking schools in the nation, Walton High School was the Pirates’ next opponent. But the Moapa team came in heads held high. While they would lose in two sets by scores of 25-12 and 25-13, the team held their own against the country’s elite. Moapa Valley was able to dig many of the Raiders’ hits and score on a couple of their own. Led by Abbie Evans and Shyanne Matheson up front, with Emilie Barraza and Alex Peay receiving in the back, the Pirates put up a solid contest against a team with nine players over 72 inches tall.

“That was our best match of the weekend,” Matheson said. “The girls showed no fear and they just got after it. Considering the size and experience difference, I think we actually left the night on a high.”
Walton would finish the tournament in tenth place.

On Saturday, the Pirates faced more elite competition. Their first game of the day came against Saint Lucy’s against whom the Pirates put up a tough contest, losing their two sets 25-20 and 25-19. In their second match, Moapa lost once more to Wilson from California before heading into the tournament.
In the tournament, the Pirates met Foothill, their first local school. The Falcons dominated and ended the Pirates’ weekend early with six losses.

Matheson was frustrated with the team’s performance. “We weren’t quite as team oriented,” she said. “We still competed well, but I felt we could’ve done better than we ended up.”

But Matheson kept her team positive before, during, and after the Durango Fall Classic. She talked about perspective. “It was not out of our reach to win a couple games,” she explained. “But they knew who they were playing and what kind of competition they had so it’s easy to get discouraged. These are excellent teams to be in the same gym with.”

“Our whole goal in going to this tournament was to get better,” Matheson continued. “We talked a lot about that when we’d get in a little bit of a rut. We all knew that it was going to take a huge hit on our record when you play that high caliber of teams.”

As for the tough 0-6 final record the team took last week, it doesn’t matter to Matheson in the books either. “It takes a hit on your record, but the experience you get is something you can’t match,” she said. “So it’s really cool to have an opportunity to be there. In the long run, it may look bad, but we know what we gained from it so it doesn’t bother me at all.”