Garrett Estrada
The Lincoln County High School volleyball team finished runner-up to White Pine during the White Pine Invitational last weekend. The Lady Lynx defeated the favorite Ladycats 25-21 in the first game of a best of three tournament final before ultimately losing the tie breaking third match 10-15.
The Lincoln High School volleyball team made things interesting for the home team at the White Pine Invitational volleyball tournament from Aug. 28-29. The Lady Lynx defeated the favorite Ladycats 25-21 in the first game of a best of three tournament final before ultimately losing the tie breaking third match 10-15.
According to head volleyball coach Ken Thornock, he was happy with the way his team competed against the rival Ladycats.
“I thought we played really well in the game against White Pine. We made some key errors that cost us the match but this is still the preseason and those are the kinds of things we are trying to work out,” Thornock said.
Thornock added that he expects to have “some battles’ against the Ladycats this season.
Strong blocking was one of the positives the coach took away from assessing his team’s early games. The Lady Lynx used the height and the experience of their veteran players up front to change the course of several matches in the tournament with points off of blocked shots.
But while the returning players from last year’s team are more of a known quantity, Thornock said the two day tournament held inside the White Pine High School gymnasium was especially helpful to the athletes new to the team.
“These kinds of games are big in teaching the younger girls what it is like to play in a real game outside of practice. And it helps me as a coach because I get to see how they react for the first time and see what we need to work on because in order to be successful this year we will need our younger girls to step up,” the coach said.
Before losing to White Pine, the Lady Lynx began the tournament with three consecutive wins over Jackpot, Battle Mountain and Tonopah. Lincoln’s first two games of the regular season will start on the road against Mountain View Christian Academy on Sept. 3. The first of the two games is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. After that, the Lady Lynx will return home to get another shot at the tournament’s winner White Pine on Sept. 11 at 5 p.m.
