MCDERMITT — With regular season quickly coming up, playoff positioning in the Eastern 1A was at stake on Saturday morning, as the McDermitt High School volleyball team took on Eureka.
The Vandals grabbed the upper hand on moving on to the postseason, sweeping the Lady Bulldogs 26-16 and 25-12 in the first match and 25-14 and 25-14 in the second.
In the first set of the opening match, McDermitt drew first blood, but Eureka quickly countered with six straight points and did not trail again.
The Vandals pushed the advantage to 15-5, forcing the Lady Bulldogs to call timeout. McDermitt closed the margin to eight points on two different occasions on kills by Morissa Bitt, but could get no closer.
The first part of the second set was much tighter, as sophomore Precious Masters did her best to keep McDermitt close to Eureka. She had a block and kill to tie the set at 4-4.
However, the Vandals scored the next four point and grabbed the momentum for the rest of the set. Leading 13-8, the Vandals scored the next eight points and were able to wrap up the first match of the doubleheader.
The first set of the second match was back-and-forth for the first half. A block by Masters, and an ace by Megan Sam and a kill by Marley Astor, kept the Lady Bulldogs within in a point at 8-7.
An ace by Shania Lenior brought McDermitt within four points at 15-11, only to see Eureka go on a 5-1 run to pull away. The Vandals won the set, when McDermitt served the ball in the net.
Masters scored three of the first four points of the second set for McDermitt on kills, but the Lady Bulldogs still trailed 6-4.
A kill by Jasmine Northrup midway through the set kept the Lady Bulldogs within five points at 11-6, when the Vandals went on a 7-1 run to pull away and win the match.
McDermitt took on Crane, Ore., on Tuesday and results were not available at press time. The Lady Bulldogs close out the regular season on Saturday when they host Carlin at 10 a.m.
Currently, Owyhee, Wells, Jackpot and Eureka have the inside track on capturing the four regional championship playoff berths, next month in Elko.
The top four teams from the Eastern 1A and the top four from the Western 1A qualify for the regional tournament.
