WINNEMUCCA - It was a rough weekend for the Lowry High School volleyball team, who was making its home debut at the 12-team State Farm Insurance Volleyball Classic.
The Lady Bucks (3-9) picked up one win over two days, a 25-18 and 25-12 victory over North Tahoe in their final match of pool play on Friday night. Lowry dropped its first two matches of the tournament on Friday, losing 25-20 and 25-18 to Fernley and 25-22, 20-25 and 15-7 to Middleton, Idaho.
"There are some things that we have to figure out," said LHS head coach Bob Rice. "We got down to Fernley early and had to play from behind the entire way. We need to get away from the slow starts. I thought we should have beaten Middleton, but some mistakes cost us."
Paige Thiede provided the early offense for Lowry in the matchup with Fernley, as the senior knocked down two kills.. Leading 6-3, the Vaqueros added to the advantage with a 4-1 run, which was stopped by a Juliana Velasco kill. A pair of kills by Rachel Sigurdson and an ace by Jessica Jensen brought Lowry within five points at 17-12, and that was close as the score would get. The Vaqueros maintained at least a five-point lead the rest of the set.
The Lady Bucks dug themselves a huge hole in the second set, as the Vaqueros scored the first nine points. Back-to-back kills by Thiede and Kylee McClellan put an end to the run. Lowry slowly began to creep back into the game and closed the gap to 15-12 after a kill by Sigurdson and a return of the ball into the open court by Thiede.
The Lady Bucks eventually tied the set at 15-15, but the Vaqueros quickly rebounded and went on a 7-2 run and never looked back.
Lowry had its chances against Middleton, as the two schools split the first two sets. The Vikings overcame an early deficit to knock off the Lady Bucks in the third game.
Lowry closed out the night with a two-set win over North Tahoe, a Division III school, in Tahoe City, Calif. After winning by seven points in the first set, the Lady Bucks routed the Lakers in game two by 13 points.
Lowry met up with Ruby Mountain League foe Spring Creek, to begin bracket play on Saturday and the Spartans pulled out a thrilling three-set victory. The Lady Bucks won set one 25-18 and the Spartans rallied for a 25-15 victory in set two. The Spartans had four match points in the final set, and the Lady Bucks two, but it was Spring Creek that won the final game 21-19.
Two of the first three points of game one for Lowry came off kills by Charlotte Bernard. The Lady Bucks later used three kills by Thiede and a block from Jensen to build a 14-7 lead. Leading 18-15, Lowry put the game out of reach with kills by Sigurdson and Sammantha LaTray. The Lady Bucks were helped by a Spring Creek miss hit in that stretch.
Spring Creek dominated the second set, using a run of eight consecutive points to make the score 18-9. Lowry eventually ended the spurt, but the Spartans answered back with four straight points to close out the set.
The Lady Bucks appeared to seize the momentum in game three, building a 5-1, only to see the lead go away. After an ace by Shelby McKinnon, the Spartans reeled off five consecutive points to tie the set at 9-9.
Lowry was in control of the game once again at 12-10, after an ace by Sigurdson and tip by Allison Barron. Trailing 13-11, Spring Creek scored three consecutive points to get to match point. However the Spartans could not close out the match. The set was tied at 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19, until Spring Creek scored the final two points.
Lowry's tournament run came to end one match later, with a 25-23 and 25-19 loss to Battle Mountain. The Lady Bucks led throughout the first set, picking up two kills and a block from Thiede. Lowry held a 20-17 advantage after a missed serve by Battle Mountain. The Lady Longhorns responded with three straight points to tie the game, forcing a timeout by the Lady Bucks.
Thiede and Jensen responded with kills out of the break, giving Lowry a 23-22 lead but the Lady Bucks could not hold the advantage, as the Lady Longhorns scored the final three points to win the set.
Lowry once again held a lead in set two, only to see it disappear at the end of the game. The Lady Bucks led 15-11 after a block by Thiede but the Lady Longhorns rallied with a 6-1 run to hold a 17-16 advantage. Lowry led one last time at 18-17, when Battle Mountain finished the match on an 8-1 run.
Lowry starts Division I-A action on Friday and Saturday, with road trips to Dayton and Fernley, respectively, at 6 p.m. and 1 p.m. The Dust Devils and Vaqueros played in the championship match on Saturday, with Dayton winning.
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