HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Taylor Lau, 10, Brittney Lindgren, and Kristi Daffer, 12, go after the volleyball in a match at Pahrump Valley High School during the regular season. Today, the Trojans are at Silverado High School in Las Vegas for the first round of the Nevada Class 3-A State tournament. They will play Yerington at 8:40 p.m. Advertisement

LAS VEGAS -- Amy Braach-Hart delayed lunch the other day; her turkey sandwich could wait until she got more information about the Yerington volleyball team.

The Pahrump Valley team Hart coaches will play the defending champion Lions in the semifinals of the Nevada Class 3-A State tournament today at 8:40 p.m. at Silverado High School here. Overton Moapa Valley will take on Northern regional champion Truckee, Calif., at 7 p.m. in the other semifinal.

There wasn't much to tell her, other than what she knows for sure. Northern league teams rarely play down South, so getting any kind of scouting report is difficult.

This is what is known.

Yerington -- which knocked off Las Vegas Faith Lutheran in the state finals last season -- was 11-3 in league matches, losing twice to undefeated Truckee, which again beat the Lions in the finals of the regionals, played on the Wolverines' court last weekend.

Based on reports, the Lions attack at the net, as recording an astounding 46 kills in a recent three-game match against Spring Creek would attest. Kayla Lommori, who was on the Yerington basketball team that lost 51-40 to Pahrump Valley in the state basketball tournament semifinals last season, had 24 of those 46 kills.

The 6-footer added five blocks and four digs. Lommori drilled 41 kills and had nine blocks in the Lions' next match, a victory against Winnemucca Lowry, which won the 2005 title.

Bre Tognoli did most of the set-up work, getting 37 assists and six digs against Spring Creek and 38 against Lowry.

Other players to watch on coach Anna Aiazzi's team include Dama Cox, who teams with Lommori and Kiara Ross to give the Lions a potent attack line at the net.

Pahrump Valley is in the state tournament for the first time since 2005, when the Trojans lost 3-0 to eventual runnerup North Tahoe.

The Trojans will counter with junior middle hitter/blocker Kristi Daffer, outside hitters Shayna Smith and Taylor Lau, along with Frankie Beatty. Brittney Lindgren, a senior libero, leads the backline corps that includes Lindsay Cummings, Arlette Scott and Alycia Jordan, Casey Scheller, Karen Daun and Vanessa Veloz.

The Trojans were 2-6 in Southern matches, before beating defending league and regional champion Las Vegas Faith Lutheran 3-2 and Overton Moapa Valley 3-1 in the regionals, played a week ago at Boulder City. It was the Trojans' first regional title since 2004.

Truckee went 14-0 in the regular season and was unbeaten in the regionals, including a 25-21, 25-13, 25-19 win against Yerington in the finals.

The Wolverines are coached by Nicole Annaloro, who said her team is "a well-oiled machine.

"The chemistry of this team is unbeatable ... and it has been all season," said Annaloro.

In Class A volleyball, Nye County teams Beatty, Round Mountain and Tonopah were eliminated in the regionals last weekend.

Round Mountain and Tonopah fell in the semifinals, with losses to Pahranagat Valley Alamo and Lake Mead Christian Academy, respectively.

Today, Alamo will play Coleville, Calif., at 2 p.m., after Lake Mead and defending state champion Owyhee clash at 12:20.

The semifinalists in Class 4-A include Las Vegas Durango, a Sunset Region Southwest Division team that will tangle with Northern champion Reno at 5:20 p.m. Pahrump Valley will join the Southwest Division in the 2008-2009 school year.

In the other semifinal, Silverado will battle Centennial at 3:40 p.m.

The 2-A semifinal matches are Zephyr Cove Whittell vs. Lincoln County at 9 a.m. and Needles, Calif. vs. South Tahoe at 10:40 a.m.

The championship matches are Saturday, with the 3-A finals at 4 p.m.