The Pershing County High School volleyball team opened its senior night game with a “silent night.”
You didn’t hear a peep out of Lovelock until the Mustangs put 10 points on the board. Then the home crowd let loose. They had a lot to cheer about.
“It felt so good. We need noise to pump us up,” said coach Monica Halverson.
Pershing County hosted Coral Academy for the last regular game of the year on Thursday, Oct. 27.
The Mustangs beat the Falcons in three sets 25-16, 25-21, 25-15. With the win, Pershing County stands at 16-8 overal, and 11-3 in the Northern 2A.
“I love playing Coral because they are an up and coming program. They have two passionate coaches that invest in making them better. They have the best sportsmanship and their competitiveness gets better each year,” said Halverson.
Senior libero Andrea Canchola had one assist and eight digs. Kaydance Happy added two aces, seven kills and nine digs. Morgan Swindlehurst played opposite senior setter Kaylen Halverson. Halverson had 20 assists, eight digs, three kills and a solo block. Swindlehurst contributed two kills.
Canchola, Happy, Halverson and Swindlehurst graduate this spring. Their families and teammates gave them a big sendoff, complete with flowers and red and black balloons.
“They have contributed so much to our program and will be hard to replace. With an emotional night for so many people, this was the perfect game to end our regular season,” Halverson said.
Yasmine McKinney had an ace and two digs. Raegan Burrows added three aces, 11 kills and two digs. KayLee Poffenroth had one dig. Taylor Garland contributed nine kills, one assist and seven digs.
Anna Happy had one ace, four kills, 10 assists and seven digs. Aaliyah Allen added two aces, three kills, one solo block and two digs.
The Mustangs finish third in the league, behind North Tahoe (13-1) and Yerington (12-2). The competition between the three top teams is neck-to-neck.
The coach pulled three players up from JV for the playoffs — Mia Canchola, Kenya Vaughan and Jessica Gonzalez.
“They will practice and be part of the varsity squad. Their dedication and hard work has paid off,” Halverson said.
Pershing County starts the first round of the playoffs on Friday, Nov. 4, at Yerington High School.
They’ll play the Silver Stage Nighthawks (4-10) at 7 p.m. The winner plays Yerington on Saturday at 1:45 p.m. in the regional semifinals.
Incline plays Battle Mountain on Friday at 5 p.m. at Yerington High School. The winner plays North Tahoe on Saturday at noon.
The championship follows at 4 p.m. The Mustangs hope to bring home the gold.
The two finalists qualify for the NIAA 2A State Championships on Nov. 11-12 at Hug High School.
