It took a little bit longer than expected after a slow start but the Lowry High School volleyball team extended its winning streak to eight, with a four-set victory over Churchill County on Wednesday, Sept. 21, in Winnemucca.
The Greenwave took advantage of a slow start by the Lady Bucks to win the first set 25-19, but Lowry bounced back to win the final three sets 25-17, 25-23 and 25-22 to improve to 13-4 overall, 1-0 in the Northern 3A East and 6-0 in crossover matches.
Churchill County scored the first four points of the opening set, only to see Lowry score the next four, with the last two coming off a kill by Jada Matheny and an ace by Kailey Franklin.
After the set was tied at 7 and 10, the Lady Bucks took their first lead of the night at 11-10 off an ace by Hadlee Bengochea.
Two blocks by Savannah Stoker and a kill by Matheny put Lowry up 16-13, but Churchill County quickly turned the momentum.
The Greenwave used a 9-2 run to go in front 22-18, when that run was stopped by a kill from Franklin.
However, that proved to be the final point of the set for Lowry.
The Lady Bucks turned the tables in the second set, scoring the first six points and nine of the first 10 to lead 9-1.
During that run, Megan Cook and Franklin had aces, forcing the Greenwave to take a timeout.
Lowry picked up strong help at the net with kills from Emma Gray, Stoker, Cook and an ace from Belen Barocio to give Lowry a 16-10 lead.
However, that advantage went away, as Churchill County scored the next seven points to go in front.
The Lady Bucks called a timeout to stop the momentum and it worked, as the Greenwave didn’t score again.
Back-to-back kills from Cambria Tisue and Stoker gave Lowry a 20-17 advantage and a tip by Stoker and ace from Franklin closed out the set.
The third set went back-and-forth to start, when Lowry grabbed a three-point advantage at 9-6 after consecutive kills from Gray and Franklin.
A tip and kill from Stoker kept Lowry in front at 15-11, but Churchill County came back to go in front 17-16. Gray tied the set at 17 with a kill but neither team could pull away with the set tied at 23.
Following a Lowry timeout, the Lady Bucks won the set with a block by Stoker and kill from Gray.
Lowry opened the fourth set with a kill from Franklin and picked up a tip and kill from Matheny to build an early advantage.
Churchill County had its chances to keep the match going but three missed serves midway through the fourth set prevented that.
A kill by Stoker gave Lowry a 23-19 lead and the Lady Bucks won the match after consecutive hitting errors by the Greenwave.
Lowry travels to Dayton on Friday for a Northern 3A contest at 6 p.m. The Dust Devils beat the Lady Bucks twice in the Pershing County tournament in August.
The Lady Bucks play at Fernley on Saturday at noon and return home on Tuesday, Oct. 4, to play Spring Creek at 6 p.m.
