BATTLE MOUNTAIN - The Battle Mountain High School varsity volleyball team played four matches in five days last week. Most importantly, the Lady Longhorns were able to win three out of four of the matches.
Battle Mountain (4-4 Ruby Mountain League, 17-15 overall) played host to Pershing County on Tuesday, Oct. 18, and lost in three sets. The Lady Mustangs won with scores of 25-13, 25-11 and 25-17. BMHS head coach Sondra Torgerson said the team didn't play very well and never displayed their true ability.
Battle Mountain was on the road the next night on Wednesday, Oct. 19,
and played a marathon match of two hours and 20 minutes at Spring Creek. The match went five games, with the Lady Longhorns winning 25-23, 25-18, 29-31, 18-25 and 18-16 for their second win of the season over the Lady Spartans. Torgerson added that Spring Creek played much better then the previous Saturday when the Longhorns easily beat them in three sets.
In the third game, the Longhorns were behind 6-1, 15-9 and 20-13, before rallying to tie the game at 25-25. It went back and forth and back and forth until the Spartans took control at 29-29 and scored the final two points. The fourth set didn't go well for the Lady Longhorns and they entered the final game down in spirits.
"We don't play well when we are down," Torgerson said. "We do much better when we are spirited, keeping a positive attitude and showing enthusiasm."
The fifth game started out with Battle Mountain leading 7-2, but the Lady Longhorns let Spring Creek score eight points in a row, making it 11-7. Abbie Mikelson was the next server for Battle Mountain and it was able to get caught back up. At this point, the game went back and forth, with both teams exchanging the lead. Gabby Cruz took over serving with the score 17-16, and the Lady Longhorns were finally able to finish the match.
"I'm proud of the girls for being able to come from behind," added the coach. "However, we can't lose focus and shouldn't get ourselves in those types of positions."
Amanda Wallock had three digs and one kill, Kalin Nelson one ace, four kills, two assists and 11 digs and Cruz five aces and 10 digs. Pooja Bhakta added one block, three aces, two kills, 40 assists and 12 digs to record a double-double. Samantha Samuelson had three aces, three kills and nine digs. Mikelson finished with eight blocks, three aces, 23 kills and nine digs, Hannah Hale six blocks and eight kills and Kelsey Kroll two aces, 10 kills and three digs.
Battle Mountain traveled to West Wendover this past Friday and beat the Wolverines in four games, 20-25, 25-22, 25-18 and 25-20. Torgerson said the Wolverines came out ready to play and scored the first seven points on the Lady Longhorns very fast. Later in the match the same server for West Wendover scored another five points in a row. After that game the Lady Longhorns woke up and played solid ball in the next three games to walk away with the victory.
Kroll had one ace, five kills, two assists and six digs, Hale five blocks and four kills and Mikelson 10 blocks, two aces, 23 kills and 10 digs to record a triple-double. Samuelson had three aces, three kills and seven digs, Bhakta two blocks, four aces, nine digs and 31 assists and Cruz six digs. Nelson finished with one ace, four kills and nine digs, Wallock two digs and McKenzie Huddleston one dig.
Battle Mountain finished off the busy week Saturday in Ely with a 25-22, 25-22 and 29-27 win over White Pine. Torgerson said it was a pretty intense match with a lot of solid blocking from both teams. She added that the Lady Longhorns were able to shut down the Lady Bobcats' Maataua Kingston, which made a big difference in their offense.
Wallock had four digs for Battle Mountain, Nelson one ace, two kills, one assist and eight digs and Cruz one ace and six digs. Bhakta had one kill, 27 assists and 13 digs for a double-double, Samuelson one ace, one kill, one assist and 13 digs and Mikelson five blocks, three aces, 15 kills and five digs. Hale had six blocks and 10 kills and Kelsey Kroll two kills and one assist.
Battle Mountain hosts West Wendover Thursday at 5 p.m. and White Pine Friday at 1 p.m. to close out the regular season.
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