Pirate Volleyball Wins 2 of 3 Matches Last Week

By LAURA ROBISON

The Progress

The Moapa Valley High School boys volleyball team played in three matches last week, winning 3-0 against Desert Pines and Losee; but losing 0-3 in a home match against Sunrise Mountain.
On Monday, April 17 the Pirates went up against Sunrise Mountain on the home court.

The Pirates lost the first set 18-25. The second set was a lot closer with the Miners still winning, 21 to 25. The Pirates had a lot more aggressive kills and blocks. The third set was a hard loss. The Miners had two great servers and the Pirates were in there to the very end with lots of digs and return service.

The score was 20 to 24 and with Jimmy Ward serving, the team was able to catch up and tie at 24-24. In the end, Sunrise Mountain got the last two points and won with a score of 24-26.
“The Miners had less errors in every aspect of the game,” said Assistant Coach Brooke Williams. “Our boys battled in the third set, point for point, but the momentum had kicked in too late.”
Landon Kelly and Joe Whitmore led the team in kills with 7 apiece for the match. Collin Sims and Jayden Bunker each got six.
“We have to be able to perform as a team in order to compete and we just weren’t there,” Williams said.

On Wednesday, the team traveled to Las Vegas to play against Desert Pines. They won the conference match against the Jaguars.

The Pirates started off strong from the first set taking advantage of the Jaguars various errors winning 25-8. In the second set the Moapa team overpowered Desert Pines and won 25-13. The Pirates won in the third set, 25-17.
Kelly got 12 kills in the match. Ben Kernebeck got 9 and Joe Whitmore stuffed down eight.
Trent Nelson had six digs, and Jimmy Ward had an epic 25 assists.

To wrap up the week the Pirate boys hosted Somerset Academy Losee on Friday. The Moapa team had no problem taking down the Lions winning in three sets: 25-10, 25-7, and 25-11.

Whitmore led the team in kills putting down 10. Kelly and Kernebeck got 9 apiece.

“The boys played awesome!” said head coach Tiffany Frederick. “We served them off the court and if they got the ball back over we put it away. I was super proud of them.”

The Pirates host Coral Academy on Tuesday, April 25 beginning at 6 pm. Then the team takes on Eldorado in Las Vegas on Friday.

The Pirates will be facing rival Virgin Valley at home on Tuesday, May 2 at 6 pm.