By BOB SNELL
The Progress
Whenever Virgin Valley and Moapa Valley face one another on the court, diamond, pitch or turf, the intensity level seems to be a bit higher than usual.
The Bulldogs and Pirates squared off on Wednesday night, Mar. 27 in a boys volleyball match inside the VVHS gymnasium.
With the energy level ramped up a notch, Virgin Valley came away with a 3-1 win for its sixth straight victory and the first over Moapa Valley in the program’s two years of existence.
“There was a lot of energy in the gym. It was exciting,” VVHS head coach Kortney Tobler said. “That was a big win for us and our program. I’m proud of our kids, they came ready to play.”
The Bulldogs won by scores of 25-18, 21-25, 25-15 and 25-23 to improve to 6-1 in the 3A South Desert League and 7-7 overall. The Pirates dropped to 5-2 in league play and 7-8 overall.
“We’re a young team still learning to play and trust each other,” MVHS head coach Tiffany Frederick said. The Pirates graduated six players from last year’s playoff team.
“We’ve come a long way, but we’ve still got a way to go,” Frederick added.
A big key for the Bulldogs was their play up front.
“I thought we had good net play up front,” Tobler said. “We also had a strong blocking game.”
Virgin Valley recorded 48 kills led by junior Destry Tobler, who had 14. Juniors Bryant Denninghoff and McKay Mulitalo added nine apiece with junior Reese Leavitt and sophomore Parker Jensen each getting seven.
Sophomore Caden Rawson had 12 kills to lead the Pirates with junior Mateo Bradshaw getting nine. Junior Brigham Whitmore added eight and senior Kayden Dixon seven.
The Bulldogs led wire to wire in taking the first game with Tobler’s kill and an unforced error by the Pirates clinching the win.
Moapa Valley came back to take the second game. Tied at 20-all, Whitmore served four straight points to put the Pirates up and Bradshaw’s kill finished it to leave the match tied at 1-1.
Virgin Valley jumped in front 12-4 to take control of the third game and were never seriously threatened in taking a 2-1 advantage.
The Pirates held a 23-20 lead in the fourth game and appeared to be on the verge of forcing a winner-take-all fifth game. But the Bulldogs would rally following an injury to setter Nate Panjaitan.
With Panjaitan, who recorded 36 assists, out with leg cramps, Virgin Valley had to pull sophomore Alonzo Roque off the court as a line judge and insert him into the game. Following a kill by Tobler, who also had 22 digs, Roque served out the last four points to give the Bulldogs the win.
“We had to fight for those last five points,” Kortney Tobler said. “Alonzo stepped in and was incredible. I was proud of him.”
The Bulldogs face two key matches this week: at first-place Valley on Tuesday, April 2 in Las Vegas and at home against powerhouse Boulder City on Thursday at 6 pm.
The loss was a tough one for the Pirates who got a strong game from senior Jimmy Ward (26 assists and 14 digs).
Moapa Valley will look to bounce back at Pinecrest Academy Cadence in Las Vegas on Tuesday before hosting Valley on Friday at 6 pm inside the MVHS gymnasium.
“Our kids are hard on themselves,” Frederick said. “They take their mistakes to heart and it takes them a while to get over it. But, they love the game and should be ready to go for our next match.”
