FALLON — Take away the first half of the opening set, and the Lady Wave volleyball team may have played their best match of the year against a formidable opponent.
Lowry stunned Fallon with nine straight points to begin the match but the Lady Wave stormed back to take the set 25-22 and then battled to 25-20 and 25-17 wins Tuesday at the Elmo Dericco Gym.
Fallon improved to 3-8 overall and 3-3 in the Northern 3A. Lowry fell 4-9 overall, 1-6 in league.
Fallon started slowly against the Lady Bucks, who advanced to the state tournament in 2017.
The Wave committed seven errors ranging from returns sailing past the out-of-bound lines to a lack of communication in setting up the ball. Two kills, one each from co-captains Andrea Escobedo and Sierra Maestrejuan, pushed Lowry to a 9-0 lead.
After Fallon took a timeout, fortunes began to sway toward the Greenwave.
Lowry made one unforced error after another, and Fallon had several good returns to tie the set at 16.
The Lady Bucks also had their problems in returning the ball cleanly, while Fallon relied on middle blocker Madison Whitaker, who had a kill, and Makenzee Moretto’s deception on a kill. Another kill, this time by Rylee Buckmaster pulled Fallon to within one point, 16-15, before a Lowry mistake tied the set.
Moretto saw extensive action Tuesday in place of Karlee Hitchcock, who suffered a stress fracture last week and will be out indefinitely.
The remainder of the set was a see-saw game. Fallon took its first lead on Buckmaster’s two-handed push and an ace served by Shelbi Schultz. Both teams traded points on mistakes, but Fallon fell behind 20-19 before outside hitter Taylor Ingram tied the set with kill. After Fallon and Lowry traded points, Fallon pulled away on libero Journey Martin’s return and Whitaker’s sizzling kill down the left side.
Fallon never trailed in the second set although Lowry came within a point, 21-20.
The Wave’s momentum from the first set carried over as Fallon raced out to a 12-1 lead.
Schultz gave the Wave some sustained serving as did Kensli Rogne during the Fallon’s run. Schultz and Rogne each had an ace, while Moretto recorded a kill and well-place return between Lowry’s first and second rows, and Whitaker pinpointed several returns.
Lowry put together a strong run aided by Fallon errors and Brooke Hansen’s play in the middle. The Lowry senior had a kill, while Maestrejuan accounted for her second kill in the set. After Fallon was called for a hitting error, Maestrejuan had another kill as Lowry trailed, 16-12. Fallon took a timeout to regroup.
Both teams struggled at the net with unforced errors. Ingram had a kill for Fallon, but Hansen took over with two blocks on one rally and a block that gave the Lady Bucks their 20th point.
Ahead 21-20, Fallon scored the set’s final four points on Ingram’s kill and solid serving from Ashley Agaman, and three Lowry errors — two balls returned in the net and a return that fell out of bounds that gave the Wave the win.
After spotting Lowry to a 3-1 lead in the third set, Fallon tied the visitors on Whitaker’s kill. Fallon’s outside hitting took over as the Wave pulled away for a 7-3 lead capped by Ingram’s kill down the left side.
Isabelle Ozanick serving resulted in two Lowry points, and Maestrejuan nailed a kill. Fallon, though, responded with Whitaker’s cross-court kill, and Rogne leaped high to record another kill. Hansen had a nice play for Lory when she tipped the ball downward to the court which Fallon couldn’t dig.
Maestrejuan kept Lowry to within four points with two more kills, but Fallon took its largest lead of the set, 21-12. Whitaker frustrated Lowry in the middle with a downward one-handed ill and a one-handed push. Maestrejuan scored Lowry’s final point on a kill, but Fallon had set point at 24-17.
Schultz tip at the net gave the Lady Wave the win and sweep.
Lowry beats
Sparks in four sets
Lowry travelled to Sparks last Friday to take on the Railroaders in a conference match and emerged victorious in four sets (25-12, 25-11, 12-25 and 26-24).
Brooke Hansen had 11 kills and three blocks in the contest, with Escobedo contributing five service aces and 22 assists. Maestrejuan chipped in with 26 digs.
“Sparks was a good game for us to focus on and get our first league win,” said Lowry coach Brandon Eastman. “It wasn’t easy.We played well, especially in the first two sets. The third set we let get away from us, as we tried some girls in different positions, just to see where we were at with that. The fourth set we had to switch back to our original lineup because we wanted to make sure we were getting out of there with a win.”
The Lady Bucks were at 1-6 in league play and 4-9 overall at press time.
"We also had to deal with a little bit of adversity as we had two players go down with injuries," Eastman said. "I thought our girls did a really good job of not letting that dictate what they were doing. They all realized that this is the hand we were dealt and we have to play with this hand.”
Lowry played in Truckee on Friday and the results of the contest were not available at press time.
“Truckee on Friday is going to be tough, they are always one of the best teams is our league,” Eastman said. “They have a great coach and they run a great program. Right now they are sitting at first in our league. Our girls will be up to the challenge of getting themselves motivated for the Truckee game as that is our rivalry in volleyball. Even though we might not be having the best year so far, I don’t think our motivation will be much of a factor for that game.”
The Lady Bucks travelled to North Valleys on Saturday (today), results of the contest were not available at press time.
“I have no idea what to expect from North Valleys, this is their first year in the 3A and we have not seen them yet,” Eastman said. “I tried to talk to a couple of other coaches to see what they bring to the table, I have not gotten much out of those conversations. We are hoping to go in there and play our game and get another “W”. Starting next week, we play a lot of games at home. After this weekend we only have two more away games. That will be nice for the second half of the season, while we are trying to fight for playoff positioning, playing on our home court the majority of the time.”
Humboldt Sun Sportswriter Charlie Roome contributed to this story.
