By NICK YAMASHITA
The Progress
The Virgin Valley High School Volleyball team came to Moapa Valley on Thursday, Oct. 28 with hopes of pulling off a major upset against the top-seeded Pirates. But after a hard-fought match, the Bulldogs couldn’t pull it off, losing in three sets.
Virgin Valley started off well early on. But the rest of the night was a nightmare for the Dawgs as the Pirates bombarded them with service ace after ace. The Lady Pirates had 16 aces for the match while Virgin Valley had zero.
The seniors on both side shined in the match. Rachel Lyman had 8 digs while Terra Evans had 10 digs. On the Bulldog side, Calla Haviland was impressive with 10 digs.
On the offensive side, Lady Pirates junior Sydney Reese led the night with 13 kills while Haviland chalked up 8 kills for the Dawgs. Sophomore Bulldog Reggi Frei added 4 kills on the evening. Senior Emily Matheson added 17 assists for the Pirates and VVHS junior Marian Leavitt had 10 assists.
The final scores of each set was in favor of the Pirates 25-11, 25-11, and 25-9.
“The girls were focused in and followed our game plan well,” said MVHS Coach Mandie Matheson. “They balanced each other out well offensively and defensively.”
With the regular season done, the Pirates have secured a top seed for the NIAA One Nevada Southern Regional Tournament. The Moapa girls will host the Lady Bulldogs in the first round of that tournament. The match will be on Tuesday, November 2 at 6:00 pm.
The Bulldogs are now 6-4 in the 3A Southern Desert and 8-17 overall. Haviland currently has 181 kills out of a Virgin Valley team total of 499.
Moapa Valley is now 27-3; 10-0 and is the top seed in the 3A Southern Desert division.
