HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Autumn Spicer, 16, of Beatty goes high for the volleyball, as does Tracey Anderson, 1, of Las Vegas Faith Lutheran, in the Pahrump Valley Invitational tournament, last weekend. Faith Lutheran won the Gold Division title. HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Kristi Daffer, 12, leaps to block the volleyball in a match against Las Vegas Mountain View Christian, in the Pahrump Valley Invitational Tournament, played Friday and Saturday at the high school and Ninth Grade Academy. Advertisement

In a battle of two of Nevada's best high school volleyball programs, Las Vegas Faith Lutheran outfought Pahranagat Valley Alamo in the Gold Division finals of the Pahrump Valley Invitational tournament, Saturday in the high school gym here.

The Class 3-A Lady Crusaders, led by tourney MVP, setter Megan Murphy, defeated the Panthers 25-12, 25-16 in the finals and finished the two-day spikers' marathon undefeated in seven matches.

Alamo, a 1-A power for more than a decade, was 5-2, with the Panthers' biggest win a 25-11, 25-17 conquest of host Pahrump Valley in the semifinals. Pahrump Valley had roared past five opponents without losing a game before bowing to the Panthers.

Amy Braach-Hart, Pahrump Valley's first-year coach, wasn't disheartened by the loss to Alamo, for a basic reason. It was just one match, "and it's a long season," said the coach.

"We had some bad serve-receives and we fell behind early (in the first game against the Panthers)," said Hart. "And when we fell behind, we sort of hung our heads. We weren't in the right frame of mind. But this gives us something to work on."

And the Lady Trojans will have plenty of time to rebound. They do not play again until Sept. 15, when they take on Lake Mead Christian Academy in Henderson. Lake Mead, with Jennie Willis emerging as the MVP and Amanda Wellman and Jessica Rinaldi joining her on the all-division team, won the Maroon title, beating Las Vegas The Meadows 25-13, 26-24.

"We're a young team in terms of experience, but I think we have great team chemistry," said Amy Fisher, in her second season as the Faith Lutheran coach after working 12 years as an assistant and head coach in the college ranks before joining as an assistant to Tim Homa at Faith Lutheran.

"The girls have a spent a lot of time playing the game," said Fisher, whose team is led by the setters' duo of Murphy and Tracey Anderson. Both made the all-tournament team, along with middle-hitter and blocker Andrea Jolls.

Despite the aggressive play of Jady Jones, Mary Higbee and Lauren Leavitt, Alamo was never any serious threat to beat Faith Lutheran in the finals. The Panthers, coached by Ginger Whipple, had expended plenty of energy in disposing of Pahrump Valley in the semifinals.

Pahrump Valley had advanced to the semifinals by beating Las Vegas Mountain View Christian 25-11, 25-9 in the first round of bracket play Saturday morning.

In pool matches, the Lady Trojans had downed The Meadows 25-15, 25-13; Lake Mead 25-18, 25-13; Beatty 25-13, 25-10, and Las Vegas Trinity 25-14, 25-4.

Alamo stopped The Meadows 17-25, 25-21, 15-13, in the quarter-finals. The Panthers had qualified for the Gold playoffs by beating Tonopah 25-11, 26-24; Mountain View 25-16, 25-13, and Calvary Chapel 25-17, 25-9, before bowing 25-16, 25-17 to Faith Lutheran.

Coach Mike Duszynski's Beatty team defeated Trinity 25-18, 25-21, but then lost 25-13, 25-10 to Pahrump Valley; 25-21, 25-13 to Lake Mead, and 25-17, 25-20 to The Meadows. The Hornets fell 25-17, 25-21 to Lake Mead in the Maroon Division semifinals.

Tonopah, with Judi Boni coaching an injury-ridden team, lost to Alamo 25-11, 26-24 and Faith Lutheran, 25-16, 25-12, before stopping Mountain View Christian 25-15, 25-18, and Calvary Chapel 25-11, 25-22 in pool play.

The Muckers beat Lake Mead 27-26, 26-27, 15-7 in the Gold Division quarter-finals, before bowing to Faith Lutheran in the semifinals.

The Muckers were without Liz Boni, sidelined by a shoulder injury.