3A Southern: Talented Moapa Valley moves into final

Moapa Valley’s girls volleyball team is loaded with talent, and coach Mandie Matheson knows on any given night she has several girls to turn to for a spark.

She also knows that when 5-foot, 11-inch senior Eden Whitmore is ready to take over, it’s game on.

Whitmore had eight kills and two blocks to help lead the Pirates to a 25-16, 25-7, 25-13 sweep of Cheyenne in the Class 3A Southern Region semifinals at Sunrise Mountain on Thursday.

Moapa Valley (28-10) will meet Boulder City (25-15) for the championship at 6 p.m. Friday at Sunrise Mountain. Both teams advance to next week’s state tournament.

“She’s been a go-to for us for a couple of years,” Matheson said of Whitmore. “She has a quick arm swing. She’s a smart player. She’s played a lot of volleyball. She just does a good job for us.”

And while Whitemore’s stat sheet wasn’t filled with dominating numbers, it was her presence and key moments in the match that helped elevate the Pirates.

After a sluggish first-set win, Whitmore helped set the tone early in the second set with a huge kill, while adding a pair of key serves that sustained momentum for the Pirates. Senior setter Aria Messer later served nine straight points to give Moapa Valley a 22-5 lead, and Whitmore finished the set with a kill and a block.

“When we work together, and my passers give me a good pass, it’s easy to set it up for my hitters,” said Messer, who finished with 23 assists and six aces. “They’re loud and they’re dominant, and if I give them a good set, they’ll put it away, definitely.”

Dannika Gordon added 11 kills, and Kessa Evans served three aces for Moapa Valley.

“This group of girls has been playing together a long, long time,” Matheson said. “(Eden) makes some big plays for us, but if you ask any one of them, they are so reliant on each other. When one of them has a rough game, the other one steps up. You can see that, throughout the set, they’re just ready to go.”

Now the Pirates are tasked with facing a hungry Boulder City team they beat twice during the regular season, 3-1 and 3-2.

“Volleyball is a game of mentality,” Whitmore said. “If you don’t have the right mental set, then it’s really hard to play and come out strong. It’s going to be a good game tomorrow, we’re ready to come out and play strong; start strong, finish stronger.”

The Desert Shields (22-12) got three kills each from Eryuan McJoy and Shaniya Mouton, and teammate Arabic McLaurin added five assists.

Boulder City 3, Pahrump Valley 0 — In the other semifinal, Maggie Roe had 16 kills, 13 assists and six digs to lead the Eagles to a 25-12, 25-14, 25-19 sweep of Pahrump Valley.

“Maggie is my all-around player,” Boulder City coach Cherise Hinman said. “She has to set on defense, she’s my smartest hitter as far as placing the ball and seeing the court. She sets the block well, best server and my most consistent passer. She’s someone the younger girls will look up to.”

Ava Wright had 17 assists and six aces for Boulder City. Kamry Bailey had nine kills and six digs, Rachel Krumm contributed seven aces, Kelsi Robinson had four blocks and Jerra Hinson added three blocks for the Eagles.

Hinman said the win served as a confidence boost for her team, knowing it’ll have a tough assignment in its third meeting with Moapa Valley.

“Moapa is such a good team; they’re good at the net too,” Boulder City coach Cherise Hinman said. “When we played them last time we pushed them to five, it was just a battle. We’ve already played two games this week, so we’re good. If the girls don’t have it now, they’re not gonna get it. A few minor adjustments, and just coming in with our A-game and not making the mistakes that will kill our game.”

Jacquellen Stobbe had 10 assists and Kylie Stritenberger added five blocks and four kills for Pahrump (15-16).