Defending state champion Virgin Valley High School will open up defense of its crown on the road when the Bulldogs travel to Las Vegas to face The Meadows School in a 3A State Boys Volleyball quarterfinal match Tuesday, May 5 at 6 p.m.

The Bulldogs, who captured last year’s state title with a thrilling five-set win over Boulder City, will enter the tournament as the fifth seed after finishing in a tie for fourth place in the 3A Desert League standings with the Mustangs. Both teams ended up with records of 5-3. The Meadows, however, earned the right to host Tuesday’s playoff match by virtue of its 3-2 win over Virgin Valley during league play.

Virgin Valley is 11-20 overall while The Meadows is 11-11. The winner of Tuesday’s match will travel to Boulder City on Thursday to face the No. 1-seeded Eagles in a state semifinal match at 6 p.m. Boulder City finished a perfect 10-0 in league play.

The other state quarterfinal match on Tuesday will see Doral Academy Red Rock, the six seed, traveling to Overton to face Moapa Valley, the third seed. The winner of that match will travel to Las Vegas on Thursday for a semifinal match against No. 2 seed Coral Academy of Science.

The 3A State Championship match is scheduled for May 13 at Sunrise Mountain High School in Las Vegas. The 4A and 5A title matches will follow the 3A championship.

“We’re excited to go play in the postseason,” VVHS head coach Kortney Tobler said. “It’ll be more intense. We’ve got to be focused and step up our play. We’ve got to get locked in.”

The Bulldogs showed a glimpse of what their postseason could be like when they are focused, as they upset second-place Coral Academy of Science, 3-2, in the regular-season finale, Wednesday night in Las Vegas. The Bulldogs outlasted the Falcons by scores of 25-14, 17-25, 25-19, 20-25 and 17-15.

Dagen Memmott had 20 kills and Aiden Muniz 40 digs for the Bulldogs, while Dallin Moeai recorded 35 assists to go along with 12 digs. Parker Jensen finished with 16 kills and 23 digs, while Alonzo Roque added 12 digs and 10 assists.

“We’re capable of playing well,” Tobler said. “We’ve got the skills to go out and play with anybody. We just need to be focused and cut down on our mistakes.”

The Bulldogs closed out their home schedule last Monday with a 3-0 sweep of visiting Cristo Rey St. Viator on Senior Night. The Bulldogs won by a score of 25-22, 26-24 and 25-15.

Virgin Valley honored its five graduating seniors before the match – Parker Jensen, Dagen Memmott, Dallin Moeai, Aiden Muniz and Alonzo Roque.

Moeai led the way for the Bulldogs with 25 assists, eight digs and five kills, while Muniz had 20 digs and three service aces. Virgin Valley had 12 service aces in the match. Jensen added 19 kills for the Bulldogs while Roque had 12 digs and seven assists.

“This was the first time we had everyone with us in two weeks,” Tobler said. “We were a little rusty, plus there were a lot of distractions with it being Senior Night.”