MCDERMITT — With its playoff chances out of reach, the McDermitt High School volleyball closed out its season on a high-note with a two-match sweep of Carlin on Saturday morning in McDermitt.
The Lady Bulldogs honored seniors Megan Sam and Dacey Horn on the day and promptly took care of the Railroaders. McDermitt won the first match 25-7 and 25-9 and the second 25-19 and 25-14.
McDermitt raced out to an 8-0 lead in the opening set of the first match and never looked back. Morissa Bit started the day with a block and added three aces in the 8-0 stretch. Sophomore Precious Master also had a kill during the run.
The Railroaders scored the next two points, but the Lady Bulldogs quickly raised the advantage to 18-3, behind two kills from Masters and two aces from the hard-serving Sam. McDermitt quickly closed out the set with two aces from Horn.
It was much of the same in the second set, as the Lady Bulldogs scored 10 of the first 12 points. Masters had two kills in the spurt, while Horn added a kill and Sam an ace.
Carlin made a small run to close the gap to 11-5 midway through the set, only to see McDermitt push the margin back to 12 points at 20-8. The Lady Bulldogs ended the match on a 4-1 run, which included three aces by Sam.
The second match proved be tougher for McDermitt, who mismatched its younger players into the first set. The Lady Bulldogs raced out to a 4-1 lead, but the Railroaders came back to tie the set at 9-9. Freshman Marley Astor collected a kill on the next point and McDermitt did not trail again.
Late in the second set, the Railroaders had trouble receiving Sam’s serve, leading to three more aces by the senior. Carlin closed the gap to 23-19, but McDermitt ended the match on a kill by Astor.
The two squads traded points in the early going and were tied at 7-7, when the Lady Bulldogs went on a 4-0 run to lead 11-7 and cruised from there. McDermitt ended the match on a 9-1 run.
Owyhee, Wells, Jackpot and Eureka will likely earn the four playoff spots from the Eastern 1A for the NIAA Regional Championships on Nov. 4-5 at Elko High School.
Virginia City, Smith Valley and Coleville, Calif., are the top three teams in the Western 1A.
Sage Ridge and Sierra Lutheran are battling for the final playoff berth.
