By BOB SNELL
The Progress
Following a mid-week loss to Valley of Las Vegas in their home opener, Virgin Valley head coach Kortney Tobler was frustrated.
Her Bulldog boys volleyball squad was coming off a 3-0 loss on Monday, Mar. 4 in Las Vegas against a very good Del Sol Academy team. Tobler was hopeful that playing at home would produce a positive result. It didn’t happen.
The Bulldogs committed several unforced errors and appeared out of sync all night in dropping a 3-0 decision to the visiting Vikings by scores of 25-22, 27-25 and 25-22.
“That just wasn’t us,” Tobler said following the loss. “We’re a better team than that. That’s what is so frustrating.”
All three games were close, but the Bulldogs couldn’t put away the pesky Vikings when they had the chance.
With the score tied at 22-all following a kill by Virgin Valley’s Destry Tobler, Valley retook the lead on a net return by the Bulldogs and then got back-to-back kills to win the first game 25-22.
In the second game, McKay Mulitalo’s block at the net put the Bulldogs up 24-22 at game-point. But, the Vikings came back to pull even at 25-25 and then got the next two points on a kill and an unforced error by the Bulldogs to win 27-25.
Led by some strong play at the net by Bryant Denninghoff and Destry Tobler, and some solid serving from Andrew Muniz, VVHS erased a 17-15 deficit and grabbed a 22-20 advantage in the third game.
Valley, however, came back to capture the last five points, the final two on Virgin Valley net returns, to close out the match.
Destry Tobler led the Bulldogs with nine kills and 10 digs while Mulitalo added seven kills and Denninghoff six kills. Nate Panjaitan recorded 22 assists to go along with 11 digs. Aiden Muniz added 17 digs and Andrew Muniz 13 digs.
“We had our chances,” Tobler said. “It just wasn’t our night. I expect us to bounce back and play much better than we did.”
It didn’t take long for the Bulldogs to prove their coach right.
Virgin Valley traveled to Las Vegas on Friday and swept Founders Classical Academy, 3-0, winning by scores of 25-14, 25-8 and 25-17.
Panjaitan had a solid outing for the Bulldogs recording 25 assists, four digs and serving three aces. Destry Tobler also had a big night getting seven kills, six digs and serving four aces.
Mulitalo had 11 kills in the contest with Denninghoff and Reese Leavitt adding five each. Denninghoff also had three aces with Andrew Muniz notching nine digs and Aiden Muniz four digs.
Virgin Valley, which improved to 2-7 overall, will be off this week for Spring Break in the Clark County School District. The Bulldogs return to the court on March 18 when they host Pinecrest Academy-Cadence at 6 p.m. inside the VVHS gym.
After playing at Somerset Academy-Losee in North Las Vegas on March 20, the Bulldogs will be back at home on March 22 to face Cristo Rey-St. Viator of Las Vegas at 6 p.m.
