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October 15, 2004
PREP VOLLEYBALLPV nips Faith; Moapa Valley visits tonight
By DON McDERMOTT
Tonight, the Trojans, 4-1 in the league and 20-5 in all matches, play at home again, taking on an Overton Moapa Valley team that, for the first time in 14 years, is struggling. The varsity match begins around 5 p.m. The Pirates, who have won 13 consecutive state volleyball titles, are 1-4 in the league and are in danger of not qualifying for the Southern regional tournament, to be played on their court Nov. 5. The varsity match will begin at 5 p.m., following B-team and junior varsity preliminaries. Faith Lutheran, if it does not stumble again, has clinched the No. 1 seed for the playoffs. Despite the five-set loss to the Trojans, coach Tim Homa's Crusaders hold a 5-4 edge in games won in their two matches against the Trojans. "The rule was changed this year," said Rich Lauver, the Pahrump Valley High School athletics director. "Last year, if two teams split, the school that won the last match got the higher seed. This year, it's total games won in the two matches." Faith Lutheran won 3-1 on its court last month, so its 3-2 loss Tuesday did nothing to endanger its claiming the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for the single-elimination playoffs that determine Southern Nevada's representative in the state tournament, to be played Nov 12-13 at Galena High School in Reno. In the deciding 15-point fifth game, coach Jill Harris's team led all the way, with Faith able to tie it at 3-3 and 5-5 before Pahrump Valley went on an 8-0 run on the serve of Janelle Ballantine. Ryanne Dudenski's block and a kill by Michelle Dannenberger boosted PV into a 7-5 lead. Two kills by Jennie Mills made it 10-5 and another kill by Dannenberger dropped Faith back 12-5. Faith Lutheran closed to 13-9, but a net serve and a misplay proved costly as Pahrump Valley claimed a 15-9 win. In Game One, Faith Lutheran went on a 7-0 run after the Trojans took a 19-18 lead. Three unforced errors proved costly for the PV girls who led 5-3, 9-8, and 18-17 during that game. In Game Two, four floor errors allowed Faith to jump ahead 9-6, and the Trojans were behind 16-13 before starting their comeback. Ahead 24-23, the Trojans won when a Crusaders' kill attempt sailed out of bounds. From a 9-9 tie, the Trojans went on an 11-3 run to take a 20-12 advantage. An error in rotation cost the Trojans two points, but they recovered to outscore Faith 5-3 to win. Dannenberger served the first three points; that would be the biggest margin of the hotly-contested fourth game that was tied at 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11, 17-17, 18-18, 20-20, 22-22, 23-23, 24-24 and 25-25. The Crusaders scored the last two points, one on an error and the last on a kill by Kim Schulte. "It was a well-played match," said Harris. "The idea was for us to stay focused and we did. There were many long rallies in the match and we were able to win most of them. "Most of all, the girls really hustled; everyone was aggressive for us," said Harris. • In the B-team match, Pahrump Valley won 27-25, 25-23, but the junior varsity lost 26-24, 26-24. |
