WINNEMUCCA - Except for its five matches against varsity teams at the beginning of the season, the Lowry High School junior varsity volleyball team has played from behind on very few occasions.
After coming away with an easy 25-20 and 25-10 win over South Tahoe on Friday, Sept. 14, in Winnemucca, the Lady Bucks experienced that feeling of trailing this past Saturday in Fallon.
Lowry and Churchill County met for the third time this year, with the Lady Bucks winning the previous two matchups. The Greenwave appeared to have the upper hand in the third meeting, leading throughout the first set.
Churchill County scored seven of the first eight points of the match and continued to hold on to the advantage at 15-8, 18-11 and 20-13.
Trailing by seven points, Ashlee Barron reeled off five straight service points to get the Lady Bucks back into the set. Lowry eventually came back to win the set 27-25.
"We had to shake the dust from our minds and bodies," said LHS head coach Megan Allen. "We had not been in that kind of position much this year. It turned into a really good match. We had to wake up and remember to play like we can. It was a good learning experience."
Lowry (4-0 Division I-A, 9-5 overall) controlled the second set and went on to sweep Churchill County with a 25-16 win.
"It was important to snap back and we did that," Allen said. "This was the third time we have played them and every time it has been close."
Auri Criddle led Lowry with three blocks to go with two aces, two kills and two assists. Payton Naveran added three aces, two blocks and one kill, Darion Iturriaga had two assists, one dig and one ace and Lindsay Pate finished with three digs, one kill and one assist. Jillian Albright had a team-high 10 assists, one block and one dig, Jasmyne Herrera four blocks and Sierra Thiede two digs.
Except for a small hiccup in the first set, Lowry dominated its match with South Tahoe. The Lady Bucks scored eight of the first 10 points of the match, off two kills by Naveran and an ace by Criddle.
Thiede added her second kill of the opening set to help Lowry to a 13-6 lead and the advantage grew to nine points at 21-12 on a kill by Kelsea Perkinson. The Lady Bucks had control of the set, only to see the Vikings score seven points in a row to cut the lead to 21-19. A kill by Herrera stopped the run and Lowry regrouped and went on to claim the first set.
South Tahoe scored the first three points in the second set, but it was all Lowry from there. A tip by Criddle gave the Lady Bucks their first points of the set and Pate followed with two aces to put Lowry in front at 4-3. An ace by Naveran capped an 8-1 run, giving the Lady Bucks a 9-4 advantage they would not give up.
"We fell asleep a bit in that first set, but snapped out of it," said the coach. "I thought it would be a tougher match, since they play a lot of club ball in South Tahoe."
Lowry had 21 aces against South Tahoe, with Criddle, Herrera and Naveran picking up three each. Albright and Barron each had three aces, with Pate adding two. Criddle and Herrera had four and three kills, respectively, and Meg Montero and Barron each had two kills. Montero picked up two blocks, as did Naveran.
Lowry hosts Sparks tonight at 5 p.m. in a Division III matchup.
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