Coming off a tough three-set loss to Fernley, the Lowry High School volleyball team was looking to rebound and pick up its first win of the season against Elko last Thursday in Winnemucca.
Even though the Lady Bucks fell short in the match to the Indians 26-24, 25-23 and 25-20, head coach Skylar Estes was happy with the way the team bounced back.
“We played a lot better than we did in Fernley,” Estes said. “I am not sure, who that team was in Fernley. Any of the sets against Elko could have gone either way. It’s about momentum and stopping it when the other team has it. We are still learning and need to learn not to get down when teams make a run against us.”
Lowry raced out to a 7-3 advantage in the first set, on the strength of kills by Shanae Smith and Juliana Ruiz.
Elko turned the tables and used an 8-3 run to go in front 11-10, when the Lady Bucks bounced back with a kill from Smith and a tip by Eva Andradottir to go back up 12-11.
The two squads would trade points from there, with the set tied at 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 all.
The Indians scored three points in a row to go up 24-21 after an ace.
But a serving error on the next point by the Indians kept the Lady Bucks alive. Lowry scored the next two points to tie the set, but could not capitalize on the momentum as Elko scored the final two points to win 26-24.
Lowry came out on fire in the second set with the first seven points. Reece Kalkoske had a kill and block in the run, while Viola Braun added a kill and Kadence Cooney an ace.
The Lady Bucks maintained an eight-point lead at 12-4 after a kill by Ruiz, but the Indians slowly cut into the deficit and came all the way back to lead 15-14. Lowry bounced back with three consecutive points, including back-to-back kills by Braun and Ruiz.
Lowry led 20-18 late in the second set, when Elko used a 4-1 run to go back ahead 22-21. The Lady Bucks tied the set on the next point, only to see the Indians score three of the final four points.
Lowry grabbed the momentum in the third set and led 9-4 after a kill by Kailey Franklin.
However, the Lady Bucks saw the lead go away on the strength of a 9-2 run by the Indians.
Trailing by two points, Lowry tied the third set at 13 after a kill by Smith and an ace by McKenzi Petersen.
A block by Kalkoske kept the set tied at 14 all, when Elko used a 7-2 run to go in front 21-16. After a timeout. Lowry closed the gap to 23-19 on kills by Petersen and Alexis Olson, but that was as close as the Lady Bucks got.
Dayton sweeps Lowry
Lowry hit the road to Lyon County on Friday to take on Dayton and lost to the Dust Devils in three sets 25-18, 25-22 and 25-13.
With the loss, the Lady Bucks dropped to 0-4 on the season.
Lowry closes out the first half of the Eastern 3A schedule on Friday in Fallon against Churchill County. The road trip continues on Saturday in Spring Creek.
The Lady Bucks are back on their home floor on Friday, March 26 and Saturday, March 27, against Fernley and Dayton, respectively.
