By ROD NELSON
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Valley High School Volleyball team entertained a good team, the Chaparral Cowboys, on Monday, Sept. 16. It was far from an easy road, but the Pirates ended up defeating the Cowboys in three sets.
In the first set the Pirates got themselves into trouble for a time. They suffered from poor serving, hitting into the net and not covering their area. The momentum in the set teetered back and forth throughout with scores staying close.
Sydney Reese had 3 well placed hits that helped the Pirates stay in the game.
The Pirates finally dug in after being behind by a score of 20-23 and finally won the next 5 consecutive points for an astonishing comeback. They won the set 25-23. The Chaparral team was deflated.
In set 2 Sierra Bunker played was on fire. She chalked up 5 kills and completely controlled the play at the net.
The Pirates serving game also came alive in set 2. They also had great net play and were spotting their hitting into open areas of the court.
The set went on to see the Pirates defeat the Cowboys with a score of 25-14.
The Pirates continued that momentum into the third set. Sierra Bunker was still controlling the court by her incredible plays. Andi Hillstead was smoking out the Cowboys in her serving. Sydney Reese and Abbie Evans had some kills and Emma Peay displayed a consistent good game.
MVHS Coach Mandie Matheson called a crucial time-out just as the Cowboys staged a comeback from being down 7-15 to suddenly making a 13-17 score.
The peptalk worked. The Pirates responded with strength, and Keri Bradshaw made the final kill as the Pirates won the games and match 25-18.
The Pirates then travelled to Las Vegas over the weekend to play at the Durango Fall Classic. Here they were up against some of the best Volleyball teams in the nation.
The Durango Tournament is one of the top volleyball tournament in the country for high school volleyball. Several of the top 25 teams in the county attend including the top 2.
On Friday the Pirates’ first went up against Notre Dame of California, losing that match 0-2. Next they faced Skyview from Idaho and lost again 0-2.
Every one of those teams ended up placing well in the tournament. Cathedral ended up beating out the #2 team in the country to make it to the semi final tournament match.
The Pirate team went into their final match of the night against the exceptional Cathedral Catholic team.
Beyond great control and defense the Cathedral team had two incredible outside hitters and every one of their front row players were 6 ft plus tall.
The Moapa girls fought hard in the match and earned 14 pts in the first set. But ended up falling in the match 0-2. But Matheson said that the match was more about the experience than winning.
“As a coach, I wanted to allow all of my players the opportunity to play against such a great team,” said Matheson. “So we made some adjustments in the second set. We did not score as many points in that set, but the girls rallied well and made Cathedral Catholic earn every point.”
On Day 2 of the tournament, the Pirates competed against three opponents. St. Ignatius of California prevailed against the Pirates 0-2. Poly Prep, a New York team, then beat the Pirates 0-2.
In their final match the Pirates went up against Foothill High School. The Moapa team won the first set 25-23. Then they fell behind in the second set ending up losing with a score of 16-25. The Foothill momentum carried over into set 3 and the match ended with a 18-25 loss in the final set for the Pirates.
But Matheson was pleased with the team’s performance at this difficult tournament.
“Overall, while our record will take a major hit, the experience we gained as a team is priceless,” Matheson said. “The girls gained confidence seeing that they can compete with teams that physically and experience-wise far outweigh them.”
Matheson said that the team was able to run its offense against the very best defensive teams in the country and find out what worked and what didn’t. \
“We were also able to find out defensively where we have strengths and where we need improvement against teams that run quicker offenses that we have seen all year,” Matheson added.
“As coaches we were proud of the way the girls represented Moapa Valley at such an elite event and we are excited with the progress they made,” she concluded.
