By BOB SNELL
The Progress
Moapa Valley welcomed Virgin Valley to “The Rivalry” in a high school boys volleyball match held Monday night, Mar. 20 at the Virgin Valley High School gymnasium in Mesquite.
The Pirates and Bulldogs were meeting on the court for the first time in the sport. The Pirates prevailed in the match, 3-0. MVHS won by scores of 25-21, 25-13 and 25-11.
Virgin Valley is in its inaugural year as a program and is playing this season as an independent with the hopes of joining the 3A ranks next season.
The first game was highly competitive with Pirates coming out on top 25-21. The experience of the MVHS squad combined with the inexperience of VVHS helped the Pirates to solid wins in the final two games to complete the sweep.
The win improved Moapa Valley to 4-3 on the season.
The senior leadership for the Pirates was a big difference in the match. Seniors Landon Kelly, Ben Kernebeck, Jayden Bunker and Joe Whitmore, along with junior Jimmy Ward, led the way for MVHS.
Kernebeck had a stat line of nine kills, six digs and two aces to lead the way. Kelly also recorded nine kills while Bunker added five kills. Whitmore chipped in with two service aces and two blocks. Ward was credited with 27 assists.
For Virgin Valley, sophomore Destry Tobler had five kills and six digs with junior Nate Panjaitan notching 12 assists and two aces. Junior Rom Gagliano and sophomore McKay Mulitalo each had three kills with junior Alex Rivera coming up with six digs.
