SPRING CREEK - After cruising through the Division IV East this fall, the McDermitt High School volleyball team was looking to continue its magical season at last weekend's Division IV Northern Regional Championships in Spring Creek.
The Lady Bulldogs kept their state tournament hopes alive on Friday night, with a thrilling five-set win over Mineral County (Hawthorne).
McDermitt lost the first set 25-19, but came back to win the next two, 25-8 and 25-18. The Serpents sent the match to the distance by wining the fourth set 25-20, only to see the Lady Bulldogs pull away in the final set to win 15-7.
"I am very proud of my girls," said MHS head coach Jaimi Wilkinson. "After the first nine matches of the season no one expected them to win any matches. They fought back to win the East Division and reached the regional tournament and won a hard-fought match against Mineral County on the first night."
McDermitt (10-11 overall, 8-2 Division IV East) was back on the floor early Saturday morning to face Smith Valley. The winner would guarantee themselves a spot in the state tournament in Reno. Smith Valley jumped out to a 2-0 set lead with wins of 25-18 and 25-14, respectively. McDermitt fought back match point on two occasions to win the third set, but Smith Valley came on strong to win set four 25-15, ending the Lady Bulldogs' season.
"Smith Valley passed the ball very well," Wilkinson said. "They served the ball fantastic and we did not own the net like we usually do. We were flat-footed and we are not used to teams hitting at us. Smith Valley came and hit today. There is no team in our (East) league that hits the ball like that. Smith Valley stretched the ball across the net and took our blocking out of play."
Smith Valley put together three aces in a row at the start of the first set to take a 4-2 advantage. Sharon Sherburn did her best to keep McDermitt in the set, with a kill and block to keep the score tied at 6-6.
Smith Valley reeled off the next four points to lead 10-6 and did not trail again. McDermitt countered with three straight points, forcing Smith Valley to call time out. Smith Valley came out of the break on fire with an 8-1 run to increase the advantage to 18-10. The only point in that stretch for McDermitt was a block by freshman Va Draunidalo that brought the crowd to its feet.
McDermitt used a 7-0 run to close the gap to 18-17 but could not get any closer. During the spurt, Staheli Wilkinson had two aces and Sherburn a kill. Smith Valley closed out the set on a 7-1 run.
Wilkinson started the second set on a high note with a kill on the first point of the game, but Smith Valley answered with five of the next seven points.
A kill by Wilkinson closed the deficit to 8-6, when Smith Valley fired back with a 7-1 run to lead 15-7. Smith Valley garnered a double-digit lead at 18-8 and the advantage never dropped below 10 points the rest of the way.
McDermitt scored the first three points of the third set, when Smith Valley bounced back to lead 7-6. That was the first of eight lead changes in the set.
Back-to-back kills by Wilkinson and Sherburn gave McDermitt a 10-8 lead, forcing Smith Valley to take a timeout. Smith Valley scored the next three points to regain the lead and held the advantage, until McDermitt scored two points in a row to go out in front 17-16.
McDermitt used two kills by Sherburn to take a 23-19 lead but McDermitt missed a serve on the next point. McDermitt had set point at 24-22 but was called for being in the net, giving the point to Smith Valley. Smith Valley scored the next two points and had match point at 25-24, when Wilkinson kept McDermitt alive with a tip in to the open floor of Smith Valley.
Smith Valley once again had match point at 26-25, but McDermitt scored the next three points to send the match to a fourth set.
Smith Valley raced to an 8-1 advantage in the fourth set, with the only McDermitt point coming off a block by Draunidalo. McDermitt battled back within three points at 15-12 off an ace and kill by Sherburn and a kill by Wilkinson. Smith Valley pulled away from there, with a 10-3 run to end the match.
Virginia City went on to beat Smith Valley for the Division IV North championship.
It was the final match for five McDermitt seniors, including Sherburn, Wilkinson, Chandra Catches, Danilla James and Cheyenne Urban.
"I am not upset one bit," Wilkinson said. "The girls surpassed my expectations I had for them this season. We will take a little break and get ready for basketball season."
[[In-content Ad]]
