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Ashlyn Wadsworth makes a dive keep the play going for Pahranagat Valley in the match with Virgin Valley as Sarah Back and Morgan Harris (21) looks on. Pahranagat won the match 3-1. They play Lincoln County in Alamo on Monday before heading into the league tournament.

Nearing the end of the regular season, Pahranagat Valley volleyball had matches last week with Beaver Dam and three matches this week on Tuesday against Virgin Valley, Wednesday with White Pine, and Thursday at Beatty.  

Scores with Beaver Dam were 25-13, 25-13, 25-21.   

Against Virgin Valley, the games were close, tight, and back and forth, with only two or three points separating the teams during each. That was until  Pahranagat senior Rachel Bunker had a scoring run of at least seven points to earn the win in the fourth set and the match 3-1.

Bunker said, “I was just trying to keep my serve going, hoping that I didn’t mess up or have a server go out. I think we really work together well as a team.”

Scores in the match were 25-15 24-26, 25-21, 25-18.  Coach Ginger Whipple said, “I like playing Virgin Valley, (18-17 3A Southern), they’re very competitive and well coached. But we stumbled quite a bit ourselves, missing a lot of serves.”

She has said previously that the team seems to have trouble in the second set. And so it was with Virgin Valley also. The Panthers had a 16-9 lead but lost 24-26.

“I think that first game was easy and we let up a bit and we paid for it. Have to learn to play tough the whole way through. We have our moments when we are pretty consistent and others when we are not, and maybe miss a serve here and there, or don’t pick up a hit.”  She did give credit though to not only Bunker but also junior hitter Morgan Harris. “She got many of her kills in and looked really good.”  

After a timeout to change sides between the second and third set,  the Lady Panthers rallied and did play tough the next two games. Whipple said, “Once our hitters got going, they didn’t stop us.”

Pahranagat (18-11, 7-0) will close out the regular season on Monday with a home match against Lincoln County. The Lady Lynx (12-11, 10-4) are tied for third place with Lake Mead in the 2A Southern. Lincoln finished their regular season Thursday with a home doubleheader against Democracy Prep, (formerly Agassi Prep).

The Monday match is viewed as a tuneup for each before going into their respective regional tournaments Nov. 2-4.