Bulldogs Sweep Mater East After Losing to Clark

By BOB SNELL

The Progress

Destry Tobler goes for the kill during a home game against Mater Academy East of Las Vegas played on Wednesday last week.

The Virgin Valley High School boys volleyball team got key contributions from their bench as they defeated visiting Mater Academy East of Las Vegas, 3-0, Wednesday night inside the VVHS gymnasium.

The Bulldogs, who are in their inaugural season and playing an independent schedule, won by scores of 25-14, 25-17 and 25-14 to improve to 6-7 overall.
“We didn’t play our best, but I thought our subs came in and did well,” VVHS head coach Kortney Tobler said. “They came in and did their job.”

The win came 24 hours after VVHS was swept 3-0 at Clark in Las Vegas by scores of 25-9, 25-16 and 25-19.
“I thought we played much better (against Mater East) than we did at Clark,” Tobler said. “That was a bad night. We just didn’t play well.”

One reason the Bulldogs were successful against Mater East was the play of the bench. Tyler Black, Andrew Giles, Parker Jensen, McKay Mulitalo and Andrew Muniz made key contributions at various times of the match as did Sam Woods and Dominick Hampton.

The bench stepped up, especially in the third game. Black had five kills as Virgin Valley jumped out to a 20-10 advantage. Giles served an ace and Jensen recorded a kill to put the Bulldogs at match point. Andrew Muniz then served an ace to wrap up the victory. Aiden Muniz also contributed by serving five points including an ace.

Leading 15-14 in the first game, Virgin Valley scored 10 straight points to record the win. Alex Rivera served the final nine points that included two aces. Angel Rosas-Jimenez had two kills and Jensen one during the run.

In the second game, the Bulldogs led 12-6 before pulling away. Destry Tobler and Bryant Denninghoff had two kills apiece to fuel the final stretch. Tobler also served out the final three points.
“We’re still working on getting better,” Tobler said. “We’re also trying to help them stay more focused.”

Tobler had eight kills, Rosas-Jimenez seven and Denninghoff six. Nate Panjaitan had a strong line of 26 assists, seven digs and two service aces. Aiden Muniz recorded nine digs while Rivera added eight digs to go along with three aces.

Against Clark, Tobler had 12 kills and Rivera 12 digs while Panjaitan added 18 assists. Mulitalo had five digs and four kills.

Virgin Valley will be on the road in Las Vegas for matches at Pinecrest Academy-Sloan Canyon on Tuesday and a rematch with Mater East on Thursday.