It was one of those weeks.
The Pershing County High School volleyball team dropped two road matches. This past Friday, Pershing County lost to North Tahoe’s 25-15, 25-20 and 25-16. The following day, the Lady Mustangs suffered a 25-17, 25-22 and 25-14 defeat by Incline
With the losses, Pershing County dropped to 12-12 overall and 7-7 in the Northern 2A.
Earlier in the week, Pershing County powerhouse Faith Happy sprained her ankle at practice and Kati Cerini stepped from JV to fill her shoes.
Lisa Clark coaches the varsity volleyball team.
Lady Lakers
sink Mustangs
“Unfortunately the girls struggled to find the intensity to win against North Tahoe (6-7),” Clark said.
Sydney Jensen led Pershing County’s scoring with seven kills. Colbey Wanner added six more. Maggie Baker and Megan Renfroe each contributed two kills.
Wanner, Jensen and Morgan Reid each had one ace. Wanner and Cerini each had a bock.
Pershing County fell behind and was unable to make up the deficit.
Incline knocks
off Pershing Couty
Pershing County faced Incline (11-3) on Saturday.
“The Highlanders are a tough team,” said Clark. “We played well but missed Faith’s presence offensively.”
Happy, a PCHS junior, adds height at the net at six feet tall.
Jensen and Wanner teamed up to score five kills each. Baker added three more kills, an ace and 12 digs. Wanner had two blocks and Renfroe added another block. Taryn Houston contributed 18 digs and Jensen added seven more.
But, Pershing County found a silver lining among its clouds. Despite the back-to-back losses, they qualify for the zone championships. Yerington’s Lady Lions (14-0) lead the pack as the first seed. White Pine (11-3) and Incline (11-3) enter as the No. 2-3 seeds, respectively.
Pershing County heads to the Northern 2A Regional Championships this weekend in Fernley as the No. 4 seed.
The coach says it’s too soon to tell if Happy will be able to play. But the Lady Mustangs are eager to fight for the trophy.
Pershing County plays North Tahoe on Friday at 5 p.m. The winner of that match plays Yerington on Saturday at noon. Battle Mountain and Incline play the other first-round match on Friday at 6:45 p.m. That winner plays White Pine on Saturday at 1:45 p.m. The championship is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Pershing County’s six seniors would love to go out in a blaze of glory. Taryn Houston, Megan Renfroe, Morgan Reid, Maggie Baker, Faith Moreira and Sydney Jensen will compete at zone for the last time.
Pershing County won its first-ever state volleyball championship in 2012.
JV girls split matches; close out season
The JV team sank the North Tahoe Lakers on Friday 25-21 and 26-24. But Incline’s Lady Highlanders lowered the boom on Pershing County the next day 25-17 and 25-16).
Sarah Haynie stepped up as JV coach this year.
“Ultimately, I’m proud of how the girls ended their season,” she said. “Due to unforeseen circumstances, we played our last two games with only six girls. With only two days prep time, they filled some new positions and played hard.”
Daralyn Moura, Maria Jimenez, Aimee Carpenter, Nataly Rodriguez, Josie Crim and Cheyeanne Diaz rose to the challenge.
“The girls played their hearts out,” said Haynie.
Unfortunately, Carpenter sprained her ankle in the last set against Incline. The Lady Mustangs ended up with five girls.
Pershing JV lost the last game of its season. But it was a proud day to be a Mustang,” Haynie said.
