Reese leads Pirates to 3-0 win over Bulldogs

By LOU MARTIN

The Progress

Moapa Valley High School 6’2” senior, Sydney Reese showed why she has been a dominating force in 3A Volleyball as she led her teammates in a 3-0 blowout of the Virgin Valley Bulldogs on Thursday night, Oct. 26 in Mesquite. The Pirates owned all three matches with scores of 25-15, 25-6 and 25-11.

In the first set of the evening the Bulldogs tied the game early 3-3 before Reese had three straight kills to give the Pirates an 8-3 advantage.
Bulldog kill shots by Evian Toone and Sweden Smith kept the match within reach.

Two more kills and a block by Reese moved the Pirates lead to 15-7. Toone and Smith had a kill each the rest of the way but could not overcome the Pirates early lead.

In their second set of the night, the Pirates jumped on the Dawgs early behind 4 kills, 3 blocks and a dink by Reese to run out to a 12-1 advantage.

The Bulldogs called a timeout to regroup and came out of the break with a little more enthusiasm. Three service points by Toone cut the lead to 12-4.

But the Pirates went on a 7-1 run behind 4 service points from Alyssa Jolley, 3 kills by Reese and a kill from Halle Evans. Pirate server Alexa Nuckles finished the Dawgs off with 5 service points including an ace to make the final score 25-6.

The third set of the night was a repeat of the previous games, as the Dawgs stayed with the Pirates early before the Moapa squad’s big hitters made their presence known.

Evans had two straight kills followed by four kills and a block by Reese to take an 11-6 lead.
The Pirates finished off the Bulldogs with 3 kills by Reese and one by Evans.

Evans ended the game at match point with an ace for the final score of 25-11.
Pirates head coach Mandy Matheson said, “Our girls came to play and pressured the Bulldogs from start to finish. We play a lot better when we are in the driver’s seat.”
“We play Clark on Tuesday to start the playoffs and hope to not let up throughout the game,” Matheson added.

The Pirates record went to 14-2 in 3A play and 17-9 overall.

Despite the loss the Bulldogs held on to their second place finish in Desert League play with a 10-6 record and 17-11 overall.

Leading the way for the Dawgs, were Toone with 5 kills, Reggie Frei with 6 digs and Sara Murri with 4 assists.

Bulldog coach Robert Nelson said, “We didn’t play as well as we could as we used some younger kids due to some missing starters. We need to play better next week against SLAM in hopes of advancing in the playoffs.”