Raegan Burrows hits past two Coral blockers for a kill.
Last weekend, the Pershing County High School volleyball hosted the Northern 2A Regional Championships at PCHS.
The third-seeded Mustangs beat sixth-seeded Coral Academy in the first round (26-24, 19-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-12).
Next, Pershing County tackled Incline in four sets (25-13, 16-25, 25-13, 25-19).
The championship, pitted the Mustangs against the North Tahoe Lakers.
The Lakers walked off with the title in three sets (25-15, 25-10, 25-11).
The Mustangs are runners-up and thrilled to be going to the state tournament.
Coach Monica Halverson pulled Jaymie George and Alexa Watson from JV for the regionals. "They have been a great addition to our varsity team," she says.
Khloe Montes plays defense and digs the ball.
PCHS knocks off Coral Academy
"Coral Academy came out with focus and a grit I haven't seen in their play this season," said the coach. "A lot of our mistakes were mental and from lack of communication. We made simple sets into chaos and it cost us sets two and three."
To the delight of the home crowd, the Mustangs fought their way back. They pulled it together for the win.
Khloe Montes had a kill and 12 digs. Yasmine McKinney totaled two aces, four kills, one solo block, one block assist and five digs. Raegan Burrows had seven aces, 19 kills, one block assist and 45 digs.
Taylor Garland added six aces, four kills and 32 digs. Anna Happy had three aces, two solo blocks, two block assists, 17 assists and 11 digs. Arya Garland totaled 37 digs. Kyra Cerini had two aces, a block solo, two block assists and two digs.
Mia Canchola had an ace and 12 digs. Aaliyah Allen had two assists and five digs.
Mustangs defeat Highlanders
Aaliyah Allen and Yasmine McKinney block an Incline attempt at a kill.
Next, Pershing Country went up against Incline for the third time this year. In September, the Mustangs lost to Incline (3-2). In October the Mustangs prevailed 3-1.
Saturday's win meant a lot to the Mustangs for a couple of reasons. First, it punched their ticket to the State championship in Las Vegas.
It will be Halverson's first state appearance since she became head volleyball coach in 2019.
"We also beat a very good volleyball team coached by a talented coach. With North Tahoe looking on we did our job and got the win. I'm so proud of these girls because of the obstacles they worked through to get this win," Halverson said.
Khloe Montes had an ace, a kill and six digs. Yasmine McKinney totaled one ace, six kills, one block assist and five digs. Raegan Burrows had six aces, 16 kills, a block solo, a block assist and 42 digs.
Unfortunately, Taylor Garland hurt her ankle when she collided with another player in an attempt to save a ball.
She came back in the third set and totaled an ace, two kills, a solo block and 28 digs.
Anna Happy had three aces, a block solo, 23 assists and nine digs. Arya Garland had three back row kills and 23 digs.
Kyra Cerini had one kill. three block solos, three block assists, one assist and three digs. Mia Canchola got three digs. Aaliyah Allen had one solo block, a block assist and three digs.
North Tahoe wins championship match
The Mustangs and North Tahoe battled for the league championship in the last game of the weekend. North Tahoe polished off Lovelock without much difficulty.
"We didn't play to our potential and let a lot of mistakes control the outcome of the game," said Halverson. "North Tahoe is really good and well coached and they dominated the three sets to win the title."
Khloe Montes had one dig. Yasmine McKinney had a kill and a dig. Raegan Burrows had seven kills and 25 digs. Taylor Garland had four kills and 16 digs. Anna Happy had an ace, a kill, 14 assists and four digs,
Arya Garland had one ace, two back row kills and 23 digs. Kyra Cerini had a block solo. Mia Canchola had five digs. Aaliyah Allen had a massive block on the league's best outside hitter.
Vegas bound
The team plays in the 2A volleyball State championship on Friday and Saturday at Sunrise Mountain High School in Las Vegas.
The opponents are yet to be decided, as the Southern 2A championship was delayed to Monday night due to a power outage. Green Valley Christian and Lake Mead are in the championship.
Pershing County plays the winner of that match on 10 a.m. on Friday. North Tahoe plays the loser at 11:45 a.m.