WINNEMUCCA - It is unusual to see a junior varsity team play in a varsity tournament, but the Lowry High School JV volleyball team proved its worth at the State Farm Insurance Classic this past weekend in Winnemucca.
The Lady Bucks opened their season on Saturday, Aug. 25, with four wins and a tournament championship in Truckee. With tougher competition on the floor in Winnemucca, Lowry went 2-5 over the two days, but also left impressions on other teams.
The Lady Bucks went 0-3 on pool play on Friday, losing 25-17 and 25-21 to Spring Creek, 25-15 and 25-14 to Battle Mountain and 25-18 and 25-11, to Dayton, the eventual tournament champion.
"Being a varsity tournament the girls were nervous going into that first match, but they played well," said LHS head coach Megan Allen. "It took a little bit of time to adjust to the speed of varsity teams. When the girls adjusted they were OK."
In the opening match on Friday, Spring Creek raced out to a 10-0 advantage in the opening set, when Meg Montero ended the run with a kill. Lowry continued to battle back and forced the Spartans to call a timeout at 12-7, following an ace by Auri Criddle. Spring Creek opened the lead back up to seven points at 17-10, when Criddle picked up a block for the Lady Bucks.
Spring Creek built a 23-12 lead late in the set, only to see Lowry go on a 5-1 run to close the gap to 24-17. During that stretch, Criddle had a kill, Darion Iturriaga an ace and Peyton Naveran a tip for a point.
Lowry used that momentum from the first game and scored eight of the first 11 points of the second set. Jillian Albright set the pace with an early ace, along with two kills by Ashlee Barron and an ace from Iturriaga. A second ace by Iturriaga kept the Lowry lead at 15-12 midway through the set.
Spring Creek fought back to tie the game at 16-16, when Naveran picked up a block to put the Lady Bucks back in front at 17-16. That was the last lead for Lowry, as Spring Creek went on a 3-0 run and closed the match with three consecutive points.
The shock of the tournament came early on Saturday morning, as Lowry began a five-hour stretch of not leaving the floor. The Lady Bucks upset Elko, the defending Ruby Mountain League champions, 25-17, 20-25 and 18-16 to open the day in bracket play.
Lowry led for much of the third and final set, but after holding a 12-9 advantage, the Indians came back to tie the set at 13-13. From there the Indians had four match points, each of them fought off by the Lady Bucks. With the set tied at 18-18, Lowry scored the final two points to stun its long-time rival to the east.
"That was just a great win," Allen said. "Elko is a different team from last year but they are the league champion. I could not be more proud of the girls. They played hard all weekend. We worked on blocking in practice and they came out and blocked like hell."
The reward for Lowry was a matchup with Yerington in the championship quarterfinals. The Lions have won five state titles in the past six years, including the last to Division III championships.
The Lady Bucks kept the first game close at 8-7, but the Lions pulled away from there, going on a 17-4 run to win the first set 25-11. Lowry came back and played a strong second set and was within three to five points throughout however Yerington went on to win 25-21.
The defeat sent Lowry into the loser's bracket where it faced Churchill County. The Greenwave brought a mix of their varsity and JV squads. The Lady Bucks picked up the 22-25, 25-21 and 15-12 win to continue on.
Churchill County held a 9-5 lead in the first set, only to see Lowry go on a 6-0 run. The Lady Bucks; Jasmine Herrera tied the set at 9-9 on a kill and Iturriaga closed out the spurt, when her dig off a kill that went back over the net and hit the line.
Herrera added two more kills to keep Lowry within a point in the middle of the game at 16-15. The set was tied three more times, when Churchill County scored the final three points to win the game.
With the second set tied at 6-6, Naveran took over and in a stretch of three consecutive points, the freshman had a block, kill and a tip to give the Lady Bucks a 9-6 advantage. Later in the set, Barron followed with two straight aces to build a 13-8 lead. An ace by Sierra Thiede forced Churchill County to call timeout, trailing 21-12. Criddle's kill at 23-13 provided Lowry with its largest lead, but the Lady Bucks had to withstand a 9-1 run before pulling out the victory.
With contributions from a number of girls, Lowry jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the third set. In the first nine points, Barron had two kills, Criddle a block, Iturriaga an ace and Herrera a kill. Churchill County reversed the rolls and went on a 7-2 run of its own to tie the set at 9-9. Lowry scored the next point and did not trail again in earning the victory.
The Lady Bucks' run continued on as they met up with Battle Mountain once again. The second meeting was closer, as Lowry held a late lead in the first set, before the Lady Longhorns escaped with a 25-22 and 25-18 win.
Chelsea Herrera tied the set at 9-9 with a kill and no team had a lead of three points or more the rest of the way. Naveran added two kills of her own to tie the set at 16-16 and 18-18 and Thiede put Lowry back in front at 21-19 with a kill. However, Battle Mountain answered with four straight points and held on for the win.
Lowry did not go away in the second set and drew a roar from the crowd on a block by Barron and Naveran on the Lady Longhorns' Abbie Mikelson, an all-league player from a year ago. A kill by Thiede kept the Lady Bucks within two points at 15-13 but they could not get any closer.
Lowry hits the road for Division I-A play this weekend, with a trip to Dayton on Friday at 5 p.m., and Fernley Saturday at noon.
"The girls should be proud of how they played," Allen said. "They did a fantastic job and had fun out there.
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