Even though it was played on an early afternoon Saturday, the atmosphere for the volleyball match between Lowry High School and South Tahoe resembled one on a Friday night.
The Lady Bucks (12-1 Division I-A North, 25-2 overall) wore pink jerseys in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and were playing in front of a loud home crowd, including the soccer team, who wore their pink jerseys they will play in today.
South Tahoe was looking to play the spoiler on the day and did just that in the first set winning 25-23. However, Lowry righted the ship and won the final three sets 25-14, 25-16 and 27-25.
"It seemed like we were in slow motion, but we fought through it," said LHS coach Megan Allen. "South Tahoe is just scrappy and it seemed everything we hit at them they were getting. They got to some balls that I didn't think they could. They might be one of the best defensive teams in the league."
Lowry jumped in front 4-2 in the first set on the strength of a block by Juliana Velasco and a kill by Sierra Thiede. The two schools traded points from there, with the Vikings making a short run to lead 13-10. South Tahoe increased the advantage to 16-12 after a missed serve by Lowry. The Lady Bucks had a number of serving miscues in the early going.
Lowry rallied to go back in front 20-17, behind a tip and kill by Thiede, forcing South Tahoe to take a timeout. The Vikings rallied after the break, with five straight points to go in front 22-20. The spurt ended with a miss hit, but the Lady Bucks gave the point right back on a service error. Lowry saved one set point with a kill by Hannah Hillyer, but South Tahoe answered with a kill of its own on the next point to win the set.
Lowry never trailed in the second set, picking up kills from Ashlee Barron, Jillian Albright and Velasco to build a 7-3 lead. The Vikings closed the gap to 12-10, when the Lady Bucks went on an 8-0 run with Auri Criddle at the service line. The senior had two aces in that stretch and Velasco added a kill to make the score 20-10. Madison Montero and Velasco added kills late in the set to lead to the victory.
With the third set tied at 3-3, Lowry went on a 5-1 run off a tip and kill by Meg Montero, a block by Meg Montero and Albright and a kill by Thiede. South Tahoe countered with four consecutive points to tie the set 8-8, when Albright answered with a tip and the Lady Bucks did not trail again. Lowry built an 18-12 lead and closed out the set will kills by Albright, Madison Montero and Criddle.
There were seven ties in the first 20 points of the fourth set, when Lowry took the lead at 11-10 on a kill by Hillyer. The Vikings came back with four straight points and held the lead until the Lady Bucks grabbed the advantage at 17-16. The next four points were traded by each team, with South Tahoe giving Lowry two points on hitting errors.
The Lady Bucks picked up kills by Madison Montero, Thiede and Velasco on consecutive points to go in front 22-21 and force the Vikings to take a timeout.
South Tahoe came back with the next three points and had set point on two occasions. A kill by the Vikings was just wide of the line to cut the lead to a point and South Tahoe had a miss hit on the next point and Lowry tied the set at 24-24.
Velasco gave the Lady Bucks a 25-24 lead with a kill, but the Vikings scored the next point, Velasco came up with another kill and South Tahoe hit the ball in the net to give Lowry the win.
"It was good to have this kind of match," Allen said. "The crowd was great today and the girls fed off that atmosphere. I think we were almost too pumped up. We made the plays when we needed to."
Lowry traveled to Fallon last Tuesday and needed four sets to sweep the Greenwave.
A see-saw battle has left little room for error in the final three matches.
The Fallon volleyball team engaged in a heart-pounding performance, albeit in a losing effort as the Lady Wave fell 25-9, 16-25, 25-11, 28-26, to Lowry.
Lowry appeared poised to blow out Fallon (5-8) as the Buckaroos came out hitting on all cylinders behind the power of Julian Velasco. After racing to an easy 25-9 opening set win, the Lady Wave found its game with the offense of Evan Matheson, defense of Paige Thorn and Kayla Kincaid and solid match from setter Zoey Swisher.
"I thought the kids did really well," Fallon coach Patty Daum said. "We had a little bit of inconsistency in the third set, but we were able to come back. They put a triple block on Evan (Matheson) on that last point ... which to me is the ultimate sign of respect."
Long and intense rallies with excellent defense by both clubs defined the match, as numerous times each club thought to have won a point only to see the other team come up with a miraculous save and extend the rally.
"We came out and fought really hard," Allen said. "It's good to have these hard-fought wins."
Still, Lowry's combination of Velasco, Sierra Thiede and Meg Montero were too much too overcome. The trio leveled numerous blasts to halt any momentum gained by Fallon.
The fourth set, though, was a dogfight as Fallon fought for its postseason life. The Lady Wave jumped out to a 7-3 lead after an ace from Matheson, only to see Lowry buckled down and get back into the deciding set.
An ace by Albright put Lowry up 9-9, neither team would hold a lead larger than two points the rest of the way.
With Albright back on the service line, the Buckaroos took an 18-16 lead, but Fallon's Haylee Paladini tied the set at 18 with a big blast.
Lowry's resolve, though, proved too tough to crack even when trailing 25-24. Matheson's serve flew out of bounds and Albright and Thiede hammered home a pair of kills to seal the win.
"Fallon was picking up anything and putting it back over and we had to hit the ball hard," Allen said. "Julie is our big middle and when she can hit consistently, she brings a lot of excitement and fire."
After an abysmal opening set, Fallon found its groove and cruised to a second set win. Kristyn Arvizo's kill put the Lady Wave up 14-8 and a kill by Matheson and a tip by Kincaid extended the lead to 22-12.
Alesia Billips iced the set with a blast of her own, but Lowry answered with a pivotal win in the third set.
Lowry hosts Elko tonight at 6 p.m. in a battle for first place in the Division I-A North. The Indians currently lead the league at 14-0, but the Lady Bucks could create a tie for first place with a win and victories in their last two matches.
Lowry travels to Spring Creek Wednesday for a 5 p.m. match and Truckee on Saturday at 2 p.m.
"It is a big week for us," Allen said. "We have been working all year for this match with Elko. I know the girls are looking forward to it and it would be great to beat them."
Lahontan Valley News sports editor Steve Puterski contributed to this story.
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