It was a bittersweet weekend for the Pershing County High School volleyball team.
They traveled to Yerington for the for the Northern 2A Regional Championships as the third seed.
On Friday they faced the sixth seed, Silver Stage Nighthawks, beating them in three sets 25-13, 25-22, 25-17.
On Saturday, the Mustangs competed against Yerington, the second seed.
The Mustangs won the first two sets but lost the last three 27-25, 25-22, 10-25, 15-25, 11-15. The final contest came down to the top seeded North Tahoe Lakers and the Yerington Lions.
Yerington walked off with the championship after beating the Lakers in four sets.
Pershing County clears first round of playoffs
“We came out strong in the first game against Silver Stage and pretty much gained control of the match. The Nighthawks gained some momentum during the second set on some mistakes our team made. We kept our composure and played tough,” said coach Monica Halverson.
The coach moved three players up from JV for their first varsity playoff game — Jessica Gonzalez, Mia Canchola and Kenya Vaughan.
Kaydance Happy had 10 kills on the night, with Raegan Burrows adding nine, Yasmine McKinney six, Aaliyah Allen five, and Anna Happy two.
Pershing County had 15 aces with Taylor Garland and Anna Happy contributing four each. Three more came from Kaylen Halverson. Aaliyah Allen added two. Yasmine McKinney and Kaydance Happy each had one.
Garland added 14 digs. Burrows and Anna Happy each added 13 more. Kaydance Happy had 11. Kaylen Halverson contributed eight. Yasmine McKinney and Andrea Canchola each had four. Allen had one.
Anna Happy had 14 assists. Kaylen Halverson added 12. Allen had a solo block.
PCHS falls to
Yerington in the semifinal round
“We were super excited and mentally prepared for this game against the Lions. Our warm-ups were on point and everyone was encouraging everybody to do their best. We stepped onto the court with drive and an amazing energy that helped us win the first two sets,” Halverson said.
According to the coach, the girls played better than they had all season. Their passing was on-point.
The setters got the hitters the ball and the hitters made the plays.
“Our serving was not as strategic as it needed to be because Yerington does not give up free points,” she added.
The Lions took control in the third set and forced the Mustangs to make errors.
Pershing County struggled getting the pass off, damaging their offense. Meanwhile, the Lions poked holes in the Mustang’s defense.
The Mustangs regained some of their momentum in the fourth set, but the Lions continued to control the game.
“As a coach, I try to help my players come together as a team and play like they did in the first two sets. Nothing breaks my heart faster than seeing a team walk away with a loss when they could have taken it in three,” Halverson said.
Pershing County had 30 kills, with 14 coming from Burrows. Kaydance Happy added eight. Allen and McKinney each added three. Halverson had two.
The Mustangs had 13 aces, with four coming from Anna Happy. Three came from Garland. Two each came from Burrows and Halverson. One each came from Allen and Kaydance Happy.
Of Pershing County’s 57 digs, 17 came from Garland,12 from Anna Happy, 11 from Burrows, nine from Halverson, three from Allen, two each from McKinney and Kaydance Happy and one from Canchola.
Halverson and Kaydance Happy each had two solo blocks. Allen added one. Anna Happy had 15 assists. Halverson had six assists.
“They are phenomenal girls with so much talent. It just wasn’t their year or game to make that known. I am so proud of the season we had and the fight that the Mustangs have,” Halverson said.
“I believe in these girls and how hard they push themselves. We will take this loss and use it to fuel our off-season practices and activities to get us back in position to win a league and state title.”
