WINNEMUCCA - With just five players back from last year, the Lowry High School varsity volleyball team entered the world of the unknown as it took to the floor for time this past weekend at the State Farm Insurance Classic in Winnemucca.
With a roster predominantly made up of sophomores and seniors, the Lady Bucks picked up two wins in seven matches, but provided their hometown fans with plenty of excitement.
"I thought we had an awesome first performance," said LHS head coach Megan Allen. "I am pleased with how we covered the ball and played defense. I was also pleased with our blocking. Someone was continuously working for us."
In pool play on Friday, Lowry opened against Fernley and lost 25-13 and 25-23 to the Vaqueros. The Buckaroos dropped their second straight match, losing to Dayton, the eventual tournament champion, in two sets. Lowry picked up its first victory of the year with a two-set sweep of Whittell. In their final match of the night, the Lady Bucks lost to Middleton, Idaho, in three sets. Lowry led the Vikings 13-11 in the third set but could not close out the match.
"We had some of those first-match jitters against Fernley," Allen said. "But I was proud of how we came back in the second game against a team that has a lot of seniors on it. We played great against Middleton, but let it get away from us."
In bracket play on Saturday, Lowry entered as the No. 4 seed in its pool, but pulled off a three-set upset of Churchill County, who was the No. 1 seed out of their pool. The Lady Bucks beat the Greenwave 25-20, 20-25 and 15-13.
Lowry played another three-set thriller against Battle Mountain, a squad that has 10 seniors. The Longhorns won the first set 25-22. The Lady Bucks bounced back to claim set two 25-21, only see Battle Mountain win the match with a 15-12 victory in set three.
The Lady Bucks saw their tournament end with a 25-14 and 25-22 loss to Elko to finish fourth.
In Friday's match with Fernley, Lowry scored the first four points of the match, when the Vaqueros answered with a 7-2 run and did not trail again. Fernley was up 11-10 in the set, when it went on an 11-1 run, forcing Lowry to call two timeouts.
The Lady Bucks jumped out to a quick start once again in set two, leading 4-1 after a kill by Juliana Velasco. Payton Naveran kick started a 6-2 run with a kill of her own to make the score 14-9, as the Vaqueros called timeout.
Fernley found its momentum after that, going on a 7-1 run to go in front at 16-15. No team had more than a two-point lead from there, with Lowry tying the set at 22-22. Trailing 24-23, the Lady Bucks had a chance to keep the match going but served the ball into the net, giving Fernley the win.
Against Churchill County, Lowry found itself trailing in the early going of the first set, when Velasco put three kills together and Naveran added one of her own to tie the set at 14-14. The set went back-and-forth from there, with Naveran giving Lowry the lead for good after an ace.
The Lady Bucks started slowly in set two, with the Greenwave scoring 12 of the first 15 points. Despite the nine-point deficit, Lowry fought its way back in the set on the strength of an 11-5 run. The Lady Bucks closed to within four points, but could get no closer.
In the third and deciding set, Lowry raced out to a 5-0 lead capped off by a tip by Sierra Thiede, who was named to the all-tournament team. After a kill by Rachel Sigurdson, Thiede added an ace to push the advantage to 7-2.
Churchill County made things interesting with a 5-1 run to close the gap to 10-7, but Sigurdson followed with a tip into the open Greenwave floor and the Lady Bucks closed out the win.
"That was a big win for us," added the coach. "Churchill County is a good team and we showed a lot of promise in that match. A lot of people didn't think we could beat them."
One of the more exciting matches of the weekend came against Battle Mountain. All three sets were close with either team having the ability to win.
Lowry held a 7-6 advantage in set one after a kill by Velasco. Battle Mountain took control from there with a 13-7 run to lead 19-14. However, the Lady Bucks rallied and after a kill by Velasco and an ace by Thiede, Lowry closed within three points at 24-21, but could get no closer.
Battle Mountain held the lead for the first half of the second set when Lowry rallied to go in front at 14-12 after a kill by Sigurdson and an ace by Thiede. With the set tied at 17-17, Lowry scored the next four points to secure the set.
The Lady Longhorns jumped out to a 6-2 advantage in the third set, when a kill by Jillian Albright started a 5-1 run. An ace by Auri Criddle tied the set at 7-7, but Lowry was not able to grab the lead despite tying the match four different occasions, the last at 12-12.
"The match with Battle Mountain was so much fun," Allen said. "It felt like championship match. Girls on both teams were all over the floor and there were great rallies."
The emotion of the Battle Mountain match took its toll on Lowry, as the Indians jumped out to big leads in both sets and knocked the Lady Bucks out of the tournament.
Dayton won the tournament for a second consecutive year, defeating Elko in three sets in the championship. The Dust Devils' Madi Foley, who will be attending the University of Nevada next year, was named the Most Valuable Player. Teammate Peach Coons was named to the all-tournament team, along with Battle Mountain's Brooklyn Quintana, Elko's Desirae Danner, Fernley's Kelsie Callahan and Middleton's D'Rae Tullock.
Lowry travels to Yerington on Friday and Saturday for the Yerington Invitational. Lowry is scheduled to play Coleville, Calif., (noon), Silver Stage (3 p.m.) and Sparks (6 p.m.) on Friday. The tournament goes into a bracket format on Saturday.
"All the kids are gelling right now and the team spirit is good right now," Allen said. "I threw a bunch of different girls out there. We are looking for girls to fill roles. For the first weekend I am happy with the way we played."[[In-content Ad]]
