Pahranagat Valley and Lincoln both concluded their respective league volleyball schedules last week and tuned up for the regional tournaments by playing each other in a challenging match this past Tuesday. Lincoln had beaten Pahranagat twice this season after the Panthers girls had won the previous 12 matches since 2007.
And this time, the PVHS girls prevailed again 3-1 by scores of 25-20, 14-25, 25-23, and 25-19.
Kayla Mathews had 12 kills and Chesnee 15 assists for the Lynx.
Lincoln coach Ken Thornock said “We are playing well, and had a good, hard match with Alamo. I enjoy playing Alamo because they bring such good defense.”
Both he, and Pahranagat coach Ginger Whipple, both agreed it was the defensive work of senior Jamie Hansen and junior Brooke Higbee that made the match enjoyable.
Whipple said she learned some time ago that “defense is crucial and I have two upper classmen that kept us there. Overall, the defense was sound, but those two were standouts.”
In finishing their league seasons last week, Pahranagat beat Beaver Dam 25-13, 25-13 and 25-16, and Lincoln topped Mountain View in two matches, and held onto second place in the league. Scores were 25-19, 25-14, and 22-25, 25-16, 15-7.
As the playoffs began this week in Division IV, in first round games on Tuesday. Beaver Dam topped Indian Springs 3-1, and Beatty ousted Tonopah 3-1.
Now the action moves to Pahranagat Valley High for the Regional tournament this Saturday. “It’s always good to have home court advantage,” Whipple said. “We’ve got a good chance, we should play pretty relaxed, and that always helps us play better.”
The semi-final pairings have Beaver Dam (10-6) vs. Pahranagat Valley (20-8) at Noon followed by Beatty (11-3) vs. Sandy Valley (13-1) at 1:45. The winners will play for the championship at 4 p.m. Both finalists will advance to the NIAA state tournament in Reno Nov. 14-15.
Sandy Valley’s only loss on the season was to Pahranagat Valley Oct. 17. The Lady Panthers are the defending league and state champions.
In the Division IV Northern playoffs, the 8-team tournament is Friday and Saturday in Elko.
Friday games have Wells vs. Whittell, Virginia City vs. Eureka, Smith Valley vs. McDermitt, and Owyhee vs. Sierra Lutheran. The semi-finals are Saturday morning and the championship Saturday afternoon. The two finalists advance to the NIAA state tournament in Reno Nov. 14-15.
In the Division III Southern, the tournament will be at The Meadows High on Saturday. White Pine (22-5) is the No. 1 seed and will play Calvary Chapel (20-11) at Noon. Lincoln County (19-11), the No. 2 seed, plays The Meadows (19-12) at 1:45.
Thornock said the match with The Meadows will be good. “That’s a pretty good matchup for us. Meadows is a tough team and play really good defense as well and have a couple of pretty decent hitters. The biggest secret is to go in there with a lot of confidence and understand how well we are playing. I like our chances.”
The regional championship is at 4 p.m. Lincoln was tournament runner-up last year to Calvary Chapel.
Both finalists will advance to the state tournament in Reno Nov. 14-15 at Wooster and Galena High.
In the North Division III this weekend at Fernley, defending state champion Yerington (32-2), winners of the six of the last eight state tournaments, faces North Tahoe (8-16-1), and No. 2 seed Pershing County (27-9) plays Incline (10-6). The winners meet Saturday afternoon and the two finalists advance to the state tournament in Reno Nov. 14-15 at Wooster and Galena High.
