WINNEMUCCA - After winning just one league game a season ago, not very many people gave the Lowry High School varsity volleyball a team a chance to reach the regional playoff this year.
However, the Lady Bucks have turned heads this fall and are within reaching distance of the playoffs, after winning two of three league matches in a seven-day stretch.
"No one was giving us any respect coming into this year," said LHS head coach Megan Allen. "They saw we just won one time last year and thought we would be a pushover. The girls have come a long way and have shown that we can be a team to be reckoned with."
Lowry stepped out of league play on Wednesday night to play Pershing County and donned pink jerseys in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The Lady Bucks knocked off the defending Division III state champion 25-13, 12-25, 25-21 and 25-18 to improve to 15-14 on the season.
"That was a good win for us," Allen said. "They are a good team, but I think we got them a bit frustrated. I am not sure what happened to us in the second set, but we have done that a couple of times this year."
Lowry sprinted to a 9-2 advantage in the first set, behind a kill and ace from Juliana Velasco and a kill by Jillian Albright. The Lady Bucks extended the margin to 18-7 after back-to-back kills by Charlotte Bernard and Velasco.
Pershing County scored the next four points, behind two kills and a block by Melissa Gonzalez. However, it was all Lowry after that, finishing of the set on a 7-2 run.
What momentum Lowry had from the opening set it quickly evaporated, as Pershing County caught fire in set two and jumped out to a 10-2 lead on the play of Bailey Wanner and Gonzalez.
The Lady Bucks temporarily stopped the run with a single point, but the Mustangs countered with an 8-0 run to push the advantage to 18-3. Pershing County led 23-6, when Lowry went on a 6-1 run to close the gap, but the Mustangs ended the set with a kill by Abby Bake.
The third set featured seven ties in the first 14 points, the last at 7-7, when Lowry went on a 5-0 run to take the lead for good. The Lady Bucks increased the to 16-10, when Gonzalez brought the Mustangs back into the set with two kills and ace to trim the deficit in half.
Lowry pushed the margin back six points at 21-15 off of two kills by Meg Montero, but Pershing County hung tough and cut the lead to 24-21. With set point on the line, the Lady Bucks won the set as Ere Higbee concluded a long rally as she dived to hit the ball and it landed in the corner of the Pershing County floor.
Lowry took a commanding lead in the fourth set, scoring 10 of the first 13 points of the set. The Lady Bucks increased the margin to 14-6, but the Mustangs had one rally left in them. With the aid of three kills by Gonzalez, Pershing County cut the score to 20-14, but Bernard stopped the run for Lowry with a kill and the Lady Bucks took advantage of two Mustang errors in the late going to win the match.
Lowry took a big step toward securing a playoff spot on Tuesday, with a 25-12, 26-24, 13-25, 22-25 and 15-12 win over Churchill County in Winnemucca. The Lady Bucks held a one-match lead in the league standings coming into the meeting.
"We certainly make things interesting at times," Allen said. "We played well in the first two games and disappeared in the next two. I was pleased with how we rallied in the fifth set. It was a win or else match for us."
Lowry dominated the first set, scoring 10 of the first 13 points behind two kills by Velasco, a block and ace by Albright and a kill by Rachel Sigurdson.
Trailing 14-4, Churchill County called its final timeout of the set, but it didn't help as Montero followed with two kills and Auri Criddle had a block to close out the set.
Churchill County grabbed a 7-0 advantage, with Velasco ending the run with a kill. The Lady Bucks fought back to tie the set at 8-8 after a block and a tip by Albright. With the set tied at 12-12, Lowry went on a 7-1 run to take what was thought to be a comfortable lead.
However, Churchill County came back to tie the set at 23-23. The Lady Bucks used a kill by Peyton Naveran to go in front 25-24, but the Greenwave tied set on the next point. Churchill County committed two errors on the next two points, giving the set to Lowry.
"We hung tough in that second set from when we got down," added the coach. "We showed a lot to come back and win it."
The third set was close in the beginning, as Velasco drew the Lady Bucks within four points at 13-9 on a kill but it was all Greenwave after that. Churchill County closed the set on a 12-4 run.
The Greenwave controlled much of the fourth set as well, leading at 17-12 and 20-15. From that point on, the Lady Bucks rallied to close the gap to 23-22 on a block and tip by Criddle and a block by Naveran. Churchill County responded with the final two points to send the match to a fifth set.
Lowry took control of the closing game with the first four points off kills by Velasco, Albright and Thiede. The advantage did not last long as Churchill County came back to grab an 11-9 lead and force Lowry to call a timeout.
After the break in play, Criddle came up with a kill and the Greenwave hit the next ball into the net to tie the set at 11-11. Trailing 12-11, Thiede answered for Lowry with a kill and Montero served up an ace to put the Lady Bucks in front 13-12. Velasco put an explanation mark on the match with a kill to give the Lady Bucks the victory.
"The girls had a little talk between themselves before the final set and wanted to get the job done," Allen said. "It's a crazy game and Fallon played well. They were a scrappy team and they like to tip the ball and are good at it. I just can't put in words how big of a win it was for us."
Lowry played host to Truckee on Friday, Oct. 18, and it was another up and down match for the Lady Bucks. The Wolverines, who have three of the last four state champions and currently are second in the Division I-A North, won the first two sets 25-10 and 25-13.
However, Lowry fought back to claim the third and fourth sets at 25-21 and 25-19, respectively. The Lady Bucks could not keep the momentum as the Wolverines jumped to an early lead in the fifth set and went on to win 15-6.
Thiede led Lowry with 10 kills and Velasco and Naveran added six and four kills, respectively. The Lady Bucks had 151 digs on the night led by Darion Iturriaga with 45. Thiede added 31 and Albright and Sigurdson each had 17.
"We know we can play with them," Allen said. "There is not a big difference between us. We let them off the hook twice."
Lowry began its stretch of four matches in seven days in Sparks on Wednesday, Oct. 16, and broke a state record in the process. The Lady Bucks won 25-0, 25-10 and 25-8.
In the first set, Higbee served all 25 points in the win and added seven more service points on the night to set a Division I-A state record for service points with 32. The previous record was held by Boulder City's Maren Ripplinger in 2001.
"That is a first for me," Allen said. "I have never been part of a 25-0 game. Ere served the ball well and her teammates helped her out as well."
Lowry travels to Elko on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. match with the Indians and hosts Spring Creek on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 1 p.m. If Lowry can sweep both matches, it has a chance to secure the No. 3 seed in the regional playoffs.
"It's a big week for us," Allen said. "It would be huge for us to beat Elko."[[In-content Ad]]
