As the Lowry High School volleyball team walked into their home gym on Tuesday, they had to do a bit of a double take and make sure they were in the right place.
The Lady Bucks have been road warriors in the first month of the season, winning 15 of their 16 matches away from the comforts of home. Lowry took advantage of playing in front of a packed house and swept Churchill County in three sets 25-19, 25-16 and 25-20 to improve to 4-0 in the Division I-A North and 16-1 overall.
"It was nice to be on our home floor," said LHS coach Megan Allen. "I thought we worked through the nerves pretty well. Fallon likes to do a lot of roll shots and tips and we were prepared for that. It is tough when you play a team like that. We beat them in three (sets) and that was our goal."
Lowry scored five of the first seven points of the first set, aided by back-to-back kills by Jillian Albright and Sierra Thiede. Churchill County countered with a 9-3 run to go in front 11-8. The Lady Bucks closed the gap back up and eventually pulled away in the set to take the early lead.
Lowry claimed the advantage once again at the start of the second set, behind a tip and kill by Juliana Velasco and a kill by Madison Montero. Churchill County tied the set at 5-5 and led 11-9, when the fortunes turned Lowry's way. The Lady Bucks reeled off four straight points to go in front 13-11. The Greenwave called timeout at the point but they could not stop the bleeding. Following the break in the action, Auri Criddle lobbed a serve that hit near the back line for an ace, which continued the run and the Lady Bucks eventually led 19-13. Leading 22-16, Thiede tipped the ball for a seven-point lead and Lowry scored the next two points to win the set.
"I am satisfied with the way we played," Allen said. "Fallon is a scrappy team and got the balls up and off the floor. My younger girls came in and did a good job."
Churchill County scored the first two points of the third set, but that was quickly erased as Lowry scored 13 of the next 16 points, aided by a block by Chelsea Herrera and a kill by Thiede. The 8-1 run by Lowry forced Churchill County to call both of its timeouts early in the set.
Velasco collected five kills down the stretch and Hannah Hillyer added a block and the winning point with a kill, to keep the Lady Bucks perfect in league play.
Lowry will be back on the road for the rest of the month starting Saturday with a match against South Tahoe at noon.
"It was good to play this match because South Tahoe likes to tip the ball quite a bit," Allen said. "It's going to be the same kind of feel. We have been running a lot of stuff to start the season. We have put a lot of pressure on our setters and hitters. We really want to hit the ball in certain areas."
Lowry is back on the road Tuesday to play Elko at 6 p.m. in match that could set the tone for the top spot in the Division I-A North.
The Lady Bucks match at Truckee last Saturday was canceled due to the dense smoke from the King Fire in California. It will be made up Saturday, Nov. 1, at 2 p.m.[[In-content Ad]]
