If you are a fan of volleyball, Battle Mountain High School was the place to be on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
The Lady Longhorns played host to Wells in a non-conference match-up that lasted nearly three hours and went five sets. Battle Mountain had the opportunity to win the contest twice in the fourth set, but the Leopards bounced back to win, 23-25, 25-23, 25-27, 27-25 and 15-7.
The first set was tied 11 times, the last at 23-23, and no team led by more than three points. Wells held an 18-15 advantage, when a kill by Sarah Mills brought the Lady Longhorns within a point at 18-17. The set went back-and-forth once again, with Battle Mountain breaking a 20-20 tie with two straight points including an ace by Jonni Davis. The set was tied twice more, the last at 23-23, when the Lady Longhorns scored the final two points.
Battle Mountain quickly grabbed the momentum in the second set, scoring 11 of the first 13 points. Two of those came off a kill and ace by McKenna Jones and a kill by Yulisa Vazquez.
The Lady Longhorns continued to dominate the set leading 20-12, but Wells slowly climbed back and tied the set on an 11-2 run. The Leopards run could not be stopped, scoring the final two points to claim the set.
Battle Mountain shook off the loss, and jumped to a 7-4 advantage in the third set on the strength of back-to-back aces by Jones. In the back-and forth match, Wells fought back to go in front 20-14, but it was the Leopards’ turn to give away a set.
On the next point, Wells served the ball in the net, leading to an 8-0 run by Battle Mountain. In that stretch, Vazquez had a kill and Abby Melver two aces.
The swings in the match continued, as Wells scored the next four points and had set point at 24-22 but could not convert as Battle Mountain tied the set at 24-24. The Leopards went in front once again at 25-24, but gave the set up as the Lady Longhorns scored the final three points.
Sophomore Marissa Rogers provided Battle Mountain a spark in the fourth set with consecutive kills to create a 13-13 tie. Aided by a kill by Jones and an ace by Liscet Diaz, the Lady Longhorns held a 19-14 lead.
Once again, Battle Mountain could not hold on to the advantage and Wells tied the set at 23-23. Battle Mountain had match-point in hand after a kill by Vazquez, but after a wild rally that saw the ball played off the backboard basketball standard, Wells claimed the tying point at 24-24. With the set tied at 25-25, Battle Mountain served the ball in the net and Wells scored the next point to win the set.
Wells took control of the fifth set midway through and closed the match on an 8-1 run to claim the win.
Pershing County loss
Battle Mountain was on the road last Saturday in Lovelock and lost in three sets to Pershing County 25-8, 25-11 and 25-14.
The Lady Longhorns traveled to Wells on Tuesday and results were not available at press time.
Battle Mountain hosts Incline on Friday at 5 p.m. and North Tahoe on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Lady Longhorns are back on the road for a non-conference match at Eureka.
