The Pershing County volleyball team’s week started with a “tough loss,” according to Monica Halverson.
She referred to the Mustangs' defeat to Battle Mountain (19-25, 21-25, 24-26) in Longhorn Country on Tuesday.
“We gave too many points to the Longhorns,” said the coach.
Fortunately, they had a few days to regroup before hosting the West Wendover Wolverines on Friday.
“We went back into practice with a renewed focus and the drive to be better,” said Halverson.
To the delight of the home crowd, it showed in the next game. The Mustangs walked off with the win (25-14, 25-22, 25-17)
Halverson thinks the presence of fans bolstered her team’s “positive and through the roof” attitude. Spectators sat in the bleacher’s upper rows, masked and cordoned off by yellow tape, but still lively.
“We had a solid game. Our serving was better, and we only missed a handful compared to the bucketful we missed Tuesday.
In the second set, we allowed the Wolverines to outscore us with some of their key servers,” she said.
The third set turned into a battle, with the score tied up more often than not.
The Mustangs prevailed, largely due to power-hits from Kaydance Happy, Presley Burrows and Cheyeanne Diaz. Each of them became airborne at times as they lobbed the ball over the net.
“I love it so much when our hits are hard and difficult for the other team to dig up. It makes the game super fun to watch, and the energy is addicting. I’m so proud of these girls to win in three and do it our way by playing our game,” said Halverson.
Burrows had eight aces, 17 kills and 14 digs. Cheyeanne Diaz added two aces, six kills and six digs. Aledda Sam had one ace, two kills, two assists and 12 digs.
Senicka Happy delivered one ace, a kill and five digs. Kaylen Halverson had two aces, 22 assists and five digs. Kaydance Happy had three aces, two kills, four blocks and two digs.
On Tuesday, April. 6, Pershing hosted Coral Academy. Results were not available at press time. On Friday, April 9, Pershing County hosts Incline. JV starts at 4 p.m. Varsity follows at 5 p.m.
The Incline game will be the last of the season for the Mustangs. They’ll celebrate senior night with big send-offs for Cheyeanne Diaz and Senicka Happy.
Pershing JV beats Longhorns; falls to West Wendover
The JV girls beat Battle Mountain in three sets (16-25, 25-19, 15-11). It was Pershing’s first contest against Battle Mountain JV, a team that sets the ball up and hits well.
“Our girls were excited to play this game. They attacked well with successful results,” said Coach Nancy Meissner.
On Friday the Pershing County JV lost to West Wendover JV (12-25, 23-25). Morgan Swindlehurst was the top server and attacker throughout the week.
Taylor Garland was the top passer. Kaylee Poffenroth, Mady Grenz, Anna Happy and Yasmine McKinney also played hard all week.
