With its postseason playoff chances gone, the next best thing for the Battle Mountain High School volleyball team is to ruin the chances of others that are trying to make the playoffs.
The Lady Longhorns did that on Thursday night against rival Pershing County. Battle Mountain won the first two sets 25-20 and 25-22 and was cruising with an 11-5 lead in the third set. However, the Lady Mustangs scored 20 of the last 25 points to win 25-16 and send the match to a fourth set.
Pershing County used that momentum to win the fourth set, only to see the Lady Longhorns rally in the fifth set to claim their third league win of the season.
Pershing County led the early portion of the opening set, when Battle Mountain cut the deficit to 11-10 after a kill by Addi Slaybaugh and an ace from Anahi Lopez. The Lady Mustangs scored the next three points to lead by 14-10, but that was erased with a 4-0 run by Battle Mountain on the strength of a kill by Kasia Nelson and an ace by Slaybaugh.
Battle Mountain took its first lead at 17-16 and pulled away behind kills from Slaybaugh and Nelson. The winning point came off a Pershing County miss hit.
The Lady Mustangs came out on fire in set two, scoring six of the first seven points and forcing the Lady Longhorns to call timeout. The break in the action worked, as Pershing County missed its next serve. Battle Mountain was able to tie the set a 6-6 after two aces by Lopez.
Battle Mountain’s strong serving continued, as an ace by Slaybaugh pushed the advantage to 11-8 and made Pershing County take a timeout. The set went back-and-forth from there and was tied five times, the last at 19 off an ace by Lopez. The junior added two more aces to push the lead to 22-19. A tip by Uliana Fagg increased the lead to four points and Battle Mountain won the set off a Pershing County double hit.
The Lady Longhorns looked poised to sweep the match, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in set three behind kills from Nelson and Slaybaugh and an ace by Brynnlee Freeman. A kill by Isabel Diaz gave Battle Mountain its largest lead at 11-5, but it was all Pershing County from there. The Mustangs tied the set at 14 and finished with an 11-2 run to extend the match.
Pershing County continued its run into the fourth set and built a 10-3 lead and went on for the fourth-set victory. Battle Mountain righted the ship from there and was able to win the fifth set.
Battle Mountain hosts Incline on Friday at 5 p.m. and North Tahoe on Saturday at 11 a.m.
