LAS VEGAS — The last time the Lowry High School volleyball team was in the NIAA State Championships, most of the squad was starting elementary school in 2006.
That all changed this fall when the Lady Bucks defeated Truckee to win the Northern 3A Regional Championship. Lowry was looking to continue its Cinderella story this past weekend in Las Vegas. The Lady Bucks took on Moapa Valley on Friday night at Faith Lutheran High School.
Lowry got off to a good start in the opening set, only to see Moapa Valley reel off 13 points in a row. The Pirates won the first two sets 25-14 and 25-15, but the Lady Bucks came back to win the third set 25-23. Lowry overcame a 24-21 deficit in the fourth set to tied it at 24, but Moapa Valley scored the final two points to end the Lady Bucks’ season. Lowry finished 21-11 on the season.
“Between the second and third set we didn’t even talk about volleyball,” said LHS head coach Brandon Eastman. “We talked about having a never-give-up attitude. We worked too hard to let that be our last showing of the year. I am so proud of the girls and how they battled back. We are not going home as the loser of a state semifinal game. We are going home the biggest winner in the state of Nevada. We haven’t been in this situation in 11 years. Nobody except for our own people wearing blue and gold we would be here. We proved that small-town Winnemucca, Nevada belongs. We don’t have the facilities, we don’t have access to year-round coaches like they do in some places. We proved we belong.”
The two squads traded points to start the first set, with Julianne Montero providing the opening point of the night with a kill. Back-to-back kills from Brooke Hansen and Montero gave Lowry a 10-9 lead. The Lady Bucks led one last time at 11-10, but a missed serve would be the start of a huge Moapa Valley run.
The Pirates scored the next 13 points to lead 24-11, when a hitting error ended the spurt. The Lady Bucks made a small run with kills from Kyllie Sappington and Brittany Jacaway and an ace from Alyssa Kuskie but it was too late.
Moapa Valley kept its foot on the gas pedal and scored the first eight points of the second set, when a kill by Sierra Maestrejuan put Lowry on the scoreboard.
The Pirates opened up a 12-point advantage at 16-4, before Lowry started to settle down.
The Lady Bucks used two kills and a block from Jacaway to close the gap to 23-15, but the Pirates scored the final two points to win the set.
“The energy we had in warm ups and before the game was awesome,” Eastman said. “We started and kind of kept it up. A couple things went wrong for us and they went on that big run in the first set. It took us a set-and-a-half to recover. We didn’t recover until the third set and we finally got our feet back under us.”
Moapa Valley started off hot once again in the third set, scoring the first four points. However, Lowry answered back with a 7-1 run to go in front 7-4. The Lady Bucks used two kills and a tip by Sappington and a kill by Kuskie to stay in front at 15-11.
Moapa Valley rallied to go back in front at 18-17, forcing Lowry to call timeout. The Pirates missed their serve out of the break and missed another the next time they had the serve as well.
The Lady Bucks took the lead for good at 20-19 after a kill by Jacaway. Lowry kept a slim advantage at 22-20 after two kills by Sappington. Lowry closed out the set with kills by Sappington and Maestrejuan.
Moapa Valley opened up a 12-7 lead in the fourth set, only to see Lowry quickly close the gap. Hansen and Jacaway provided three blocks in a row and an ace by Kepa Bengochea tied the set at 12.
The Pirates went on a 5-1 run from there but Lowry would not go away. Jacaway added two kills and a block to close the gap to 18-17.
The Lady Bucks tied the set at 18 following a missed hit by the Pirates. Lowry scored the next two points to lead 20-18, when Moapa Valley battled back to go in front 24-21.
With its season on the brink of ending, Lowry picked up kills from Sappington and Montero and tied the set at 24. However, Moapa Valley scored the final two points to win the match.
“We gave Winnemucca something to be excited about,” Eastman said. “We gave them something to care about and that is all I care about. A state championship would have been icing on the cake. At the end of the day we are going home winners.”
