3A STATE: Truckee dominates Boulder City to win third straight title

Considering all the emotions her team endured Friday night, Boulder City volleyball coach Cherise Roe was a bit worried that her players would come out flat on Saturday.

Those concerns were justified, as Truckee dominated from start to finish, trouncing the Eagles 25-16, 25-17, 25-19 to claim the Class 3A state championship at Chaparral.

The state title was the third straight for the Wolverines.

Roe, whose team survived a five-set marathon match against South Tahoe in the semifinals Friday, never found a groove.

“What hurt my players tonight was their nerves,” said Roe, whose team has struggled in state tournaments despite winning three consecutive Southern League championships. “I think they were shell-shocked even to be in this match.”

The Eagles’ only true glimmer of hope came in the first set, when they opened with a 6-3 lead.

But the Wolverines erased that in a hurry, going ahead 14-8 when Kiersten Knoppel tipped one over the net to cap an 8-1 scoring run.

Truckee, which defeated Churchill County 3-1 Friday in the semifinals, wasted no time in the second set. The Wolverines jumped ahead 11-5 and cruised the rest of the way.

Wolverines coach Erika Murphy said her players relied on their experience.

“I have nine seniors on this team,” Murphy said. “We have 12 very strong players, even when we played 4A teams in the regular season.”

Though the Eagles (29-8) fell behind early in the third set, they rallied to tie the score at 17.

But Truckee (23-9) seized momentum, scoring eight of the set’s final 10 points. The Wolverines made it 24-19 on an emphatic kill by Krysta Murphy, and won it when Knoppel slammed her seventh kill over the net.

Roe tried to look at the positives after her team’s loss.

“We had some good points up at the net, and our blocking was good,” she said. “Our front line was good, but we just couldn’t get momentum. And when we did, we couldn’t keep it.”

Even so, Murphy said her team left the court with great respect for the Eagles.

“We always look forward to playing them because we know they’re going to swing and play like us,” the coach said.

Annie Reiswig led Truckee with 13 kills. Teammate Katie Mohun had 11 digs, and Brittany Thomas had 29 assists.

Whitney Barlow led Boulder City with nine kills. Teammates Mallory Bird (six kills, four blocks), Ali Rants (23 digs), Avalon Frantz (20 assists, six blocks) and Alexa Lister (eight blocks) also contributed.