McDermitt's Vina Tom attempts to tip the ball over a pair of Round Mountain blockers during Thursday quarterfinal match of the NIAA 1A State Championships at North Valleys High School in Reno.
With just six players and no substitutes, the McDermitt High School volleyball team embarked on the NIAA 1A State Championships last week at North Valleys High School and the Virginia Street Gym in Reno.
It was the first time the Lady Bulldogs were back at the state tournament since 2010 and would need to avenge a loss earlier in the season to Round Mountain to get to the state semifinals.
Round Mountain beat McDermitt in four sets at the beginning of the season and won two of the first three sets in last Thursday’s quarterfinal at North Valleys.
McDermitt's Taylor Killsback serves against Round Mountain during Thursday quarterfinal match of the NIAA 1A State Championships at North Valleys High School in Reno.
However, the Lady Bulldogs battled back and won the final two sets and the match 25-20, 18-25, 18-25, 25-15 and 15-10.
That win earned McDermitt a trip to the Virginia Street Gym and the campus of the University of Nevada on Friday afternoon.
In a battle of Bulldogs, Smith Valley knocked off McDermitt 25-13. 25-11 and 25-22. Smith Valley went on to win the state title and finished the year 34-2.
Their only losses were to Elko and Carson.
McDermitt concluded the season at 19-6.
Alexis Scott sets the ball for a teammate in the match against Round Mountain.
McDermitt def. Round Mountain
With the first set tied at 4-4, McDermitt reeled off four straight points behind a kill from Nicolette Northrup and an ace by Taylor Killsback. Leading 16-12, the Lady Bulldogs picked up a block from Northrup and later in the set, Vina Tom added back-to-back aces to push the advantage to 20-14.
Round Mountain closed the gap to 22-20, but committed a serving error on the next point and handed McDermitt the set with a hitting error.
The Knights scored seven of the first nine points of the second set and never trailed.
The advantage grew to 16-4, when the Lady Bulldogs used a 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 18-15. Tom had a kill, tip and ace during the run; Northrup had an ace and Alexis Scott a tip. Round Mountain regrouped and closed the set on a 7-3 run.
The Knights jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the third set, but saw the Lady Bulldogs tie the set at 10 after a kill by Killsback.
The McDermit volleyball team comes off the floor after winning the fourth set against Round Mountain.
Round Mountain scored the next five points and did not trail again.
With the fourth set tied at 6-6, McDermitt reeled of a 12-2 run behind a pair of kills from Breena Crutcher and a kill by Tom. Tom added an ace to make the score 20-9 and the Lady Bulldogs cruised from there to keep the match alive.
McDermitt scored five of the first six points in the fifth set, when Round Mountain rallied for four straight points to tie it up. The Lady Bulldogs reclaimed the momentum with a 6-2 run and capped off the win with two kills from Northrup.
Smith Valley def. McDermitt
McDermitt had the tough task of taking on Smith Valley, who’s only losses were to much bigger schools. Smith Valley controlled the first two sets handily, when McDermitt threw in one final battle in the third set in Friday’s semifinal match-up.
After trailing 7-3 in the third set, McDermitt rallied to cut the gap to 12-8.
Smith Valley pushed the advantage back to 19-11 but McDermitt did not go away and trimmed the lead to 24-22, when Smith Valley eventually closed out the match on the next point.
The Lady Bulldogs graduate three players in Breena Crutcher, Taylor Killsback and Nicolette Northrup.