The Pahranagat Valley High School girls volleyball team edged out the Lady Lynx in the cross county rivalry on Oct. 8. (Courtesy photo)
The Lincoln County High School volleyball team hosted the Pahranagat Valley High School Panthers in a non-league best-of-five match at the Rick Phillips Gym in Panaca on Tuesday Oct. 8. The Lady Lynx opened the match in the first game with the serve and quickly jumped out to the lead. Pahranagat Valley fought back into the game but the Lady Lynx kept the pressure on and moved ahead to a five point lead by mid game. With Lincoln in the lead by a score of 19-14 the Panthers were able to mount a challenge and closed the score to 23-21. The Lady Lynx held on for the win at 25-22.
In the second game, Pahranagat Valley turned the tables on the Lady Lynx. After opening the game trading scores, the Panthers were able to move into a five-point lead by mid-game and held a 13-8 lead over the Lincoln girls. The Panthers never let up in the game and largely on the defense of sophomore Brook Higbee and the offensive striking of senior Bailee Hosier, the Panthers charged to a 25-12 win to tie the match at one.
Lincoln opened game three with a 5-1 run and put the pressure back on Pahranagat Valley. The Panthers fought back to a two-point differential at 11-9, but the Lady Lynx took back the initiative and moved ahead. After Kayla Mathews fired two kills and a block for a score, and Kaylee Teel followed with a block for a score, the lynx moved to take a five point lead at 20-15. After trading serves, Kaitlyn Cheeney took the serve for Lincoln and closed out the game with a score of 25-16.
The fourth game started with the Panthers jumping out to a 13-9 lead. The Lady Lynx fought back and tied the score at 17 with a kill shot from Hannah Hafen. Pahranagat Valley scored two and moved back into the lead before Chesnee Harding took the serve and the Lady Lynx moved back into the lead 23-21. The Panthers then scored four unanswered points to win the game 25-23 to level the match once again.
The tie-breaker opened with Lincoln serving but the Panthers jumped out to a quick 12-3 lead. Savannah Harr took the serve as the Lady Lynx scored, but Lincoln lost the serve and the Panthers scored the final three points of the game to take the final game 15-7 and win the match 3-2.
In the match Kaylee Teel had 14 kills and 14 digs, Kayla Mathew had 12 kills. Kaitlin Cheeney put up 16 assists, three service aces and five digs, while Chesnee Harding added 15 assists and one ace. Chelsea Lloyd contributed eight kills and a block, and Jaycee Wadsworth added two aces and two digs.
The Lady Lynx next travel to Needles on Oct. 11 to face the Lady Mustangs in a Division III Southern League match. Pahranagat Valley will travel that same date to Sandy Valley to take on the 1-2 Sidewinders in a Division IV South matchup.
