BATTLE MOUNTAIN - The Battle Mountain High School varsity volleyball team remained undefeated in Ruby Mountain League play last week.
The Longhorns played host to Elko on Tuesday, Oct. 16, and beat the Indians 25-16, 25-8 and 25-16, to complete the season sweep of the Division I-A Indians.
BMHS head coach Sondra Torgerson said that each of the three sets were close to about the 10-point mark, when the Lady Longhorns took over.
"It was one of our best matches that we have played all year," Torgerson said. "The girls came out very confident and showed a lot of teamwork."
Abbie Mikelson had 13 kills, eight blocks, four digs and three aces for Battle Mountain. Hannah Hale finished with five kills and one block, Daisy Hernandez had 11 assists, four digs and thee aces and Brooklyn Quintana had seven assists and six digs. Kalin Nelson had five digs, two blocks and two kills, Sam Samuelson four aces, three digs and one kill and Amanda Wallock ended with four aces and four digs.
Battle Mountain was looking to avoid an upset Thursday, when it traveled to Winnemucca to face Lowry. The Lady Bucks came into the match at 2-4 in the Ruby Mountain League. The Lady Longhorns struggled at times but came away with a 25-21, 25-23 and 28-26 victory.
"I knew before the match we would be in trouble," said the coach. "We didn't look very good in warm ups and were just going through the motions. I was proud of how we did come back in the third game from being down 24-22."
Lowry controlled much of the first set, scoring four of the first five points, a streak capped off by a kill by Jessica Jensen. A kill by Juliana Velasco midway through the set kept the Lady Bucks up by five points, but it would be a missed serve that turned everything around.
Leading 16-11, Lowry missed a serve, which led to a 9-0 run by the Lady Longhorns. Battle Mountain took a 20-16 advantage and didn't look back.
Battle Mountain kept that roll going, scoring nine of the first 10 points of the second set. The Lady Longhorns held a 15-4 lead, when the Lady Bucks began their comeback. Velasco scored of an ace and three kills to bring Lowry within six points at 17-11.
Trailing 24-17, the Lady Bucks fired off six consecutive points to climb within one at 24-23, forcing the Lady Longhorns to call timeout. However, Lowry could not complete the comeback as Battle Mountain's Abbie Mikelson won the set with a kill, after coming back from the stoppage in play.
Lowry started off quickly in the third set, taking the lead at 4-1 after an ace by Thiede, only to see Battle Mountain counter with eight consecutive points.
The Lady Longhorns held the advantage for much of the set until the Lady Bucks' Stephanie Sappington and Jensen combined for two kills and ace to tie it up at 20-20. Lowry went on a 4-2 run from there and had set point on two occasions but could not pull out the win.
The Lady Longhorns rallied for three straight points to lead 25-24, but a kill by Jensen tied the score once again. Mikelson and Velasco traded kills for Battle Mountain and Lowry to tie the set at 26-26, when the Lady Longhorns scored the final two points, the last on an ace by Mikelson.
Mikelson finished the night with 23 kills, nine blocks, seven aces and four digs. Hale had five blocks, three kills and two digs, Hernandez 20 assists, four digs and one kill and Quintana four assists and one dig. Samuelson contributed six digs, three kills and two aces, Gabby Penola and Wallock each had six digs and McKenzie Huddleston had three digs.
Battle Mountain finished off the week with a 25-7, 25-19 and 25-12 non-conference win over Eureka. Wallock served 16 consecutive points in the first set, which included five aces. Wallock finished with six aces and two kills.
Quintana had 18 assists and three digs, Mikelson nine kills, three blocks and two aces, Hale eight kills and three blocks and Kelsey Kroll two assists and one block. Nelson finished with three digs, two aces and one kill, Samuelson four kills, one ace and one dig, Penola two assists, two digs and one assist and Kaleah Torgerson two assists and one dig. Huddleston and Warwood had four and two digs, respectively.
Battle Mountain hosted Spring Creek on Tuesday and results were not available at press time. The Lady Longhorns travel to West Wendover on Thursday for a 5 p.m. start and to Ely on Saturday to face White Pine at 1 p.m.
The Division III North regional championships will take place on Friday, Nov. 2, and Saturday, Nov. 3, at Whittell High School. Battle Mountain is currently playing for the No. 2 or No. 3 seed.
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