Pirates Beat Bulldogs 3-0 at Home

By BOB SNELL

The Progress

Moapa Valley swept rival Virgin Valley, 3-0, on Tuesday night, May 2 at home by scores of 25-23, 25-12 and 25-22. The final result had an impact on the two teams which are traveling on different paths.
For the Pirates, they are focusing on the upcoming NIAA 3A State playoffs this week as the No. 2 seed after posting a 16-8 overall record.

Moapa Valley will host Eldorado of Las Vegas in a first-round match on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the MVHS gymnasium with the winner advancing to the semifinal round on May 15.

For the Bulldogs, however, there will be no playoffs as they concluded their inaugural season at 10-8 overall; playing an independent schedule.

After starting the year 0-5, Virgin Valley closed out its first campaign winning 10 of its final 13 matches.
“Overall, I’m proud of the kids,” VVHS head coach Kortney Tobler said. “We did a lot of growing and learned some lessons. I think we’ll be in a better spot next year.”

Moapa Valley leaned on its experience – the Pirates have eight seniors on this year’s squad — and outside hitters to wear down the Bulldogs during the course of the match.
“We have some amazing athletes,” MVHS head coach Tiffany Frederick said. “When they play together and are focused, they’re a really good team.”

That hasn’t always been the case as the Pirates have had their ups and downs on the court.
“For whatever reason, sometimes they get down on themselves,” Frederick said. “They’re doing a lot better, however, of overcoming that and staying focused. It’s been an emotional roller coaster.”

An example of that came in the opening game as Virgin Valley roared out to a 9-4 lead behind two kills from McKay Mulitalo, a kill and block shot by Destry Tobler and the serves of Alex Rivera. Frederick called time out to get her team to refocus.

The Pirates responded. Jayden Bunker had consecutive kills followed by kills from Joe Whitmore, Jimmy Ward and Ben Kernebeck as Moapa Valley pulled even at 16-16.

With the score tied at 20-20, Trent Nelson served an ace to put the Pirates up for good. Kernebeck and Bunker also added kills to put MVHS at game-point which Landon Kelly sealed with a kill.

In the second game, the Pirates jumped out to an early 13-4 lead and would extend the advantage to 19-6 on a service ace by Collin Sims. The Bulldogs would cut the deficit to 20-10 behind kills from Mulitalo and Tyler Black, but the Pirates pulled away for the win with Brigham Whitmore’s block at the net ending the game.

The third game went back-and-forth with both teams exchanging the lead. Virgin Valley held a 22-20 advantage after consecutive kills by Mulitalo and looked primed to get a win. But the Pirates came right back with a kill from Mateo Bradshaw, a block at the net by Kernebeck and a net return to grab a 24-22 lead. Bradshaw followed with a kill to end the game and match.

“Virgin Valley has improved,” Frederick said. “We’re happy to get the win. Now, we’ll work on getting mentally ready for the playoffs.”

Despite the loss, Tobler thought her team gave a respectable showing on the court.
“Overall, I thought we played a lot better than we did the first time we played them,” Tobler said. “We really wanted to win that last game, but our inexperience showed at the end.”

After playing as an independent this season, Virgin Valley will compete at the 3A level next school year.