Lake Mead in familiar territory

The Eagles have landed here before.

After dominating Class 1A Southern League play, Lake Mead’s girls volleyball team will face McDermitt in a Class 1A state semifinal match at Silverado High at 10:40 a.m. on Friday.

Sound familiar? That’s because, for the defending-state champion Eagles (33-4), it is.

“We faced (McDermitt) in the first round last year at state, so it’s not somebody new, no sort of surprise,” Lake Mead coach Diana Lewis said.

The Eagles swept McDermitt 25-12, 25-16, 25-12 in that meeting, and have returned the core of the squad — including two-time Southern League Most Valuable Player Ashley Newton and her co-MVP in 2009, senior outside hitter Amanda Wellman.

Junior outside hitter Newton and her team-leading 384 kills will play a big role in the Lake Mead attack.

In last year’s state semifinals, Newton tallied 16 kills and three digs, and Wellman added seven aces, seven digs and five kills.

This year, the Eagles boast a more experienced lineup with four seniors, including Wellman and setter Jocelyn Cox, who has dished out 694 assists on the season.

“(Cox) is the unsung hero,” Lewis said. “She can take a bad pass and make it into something incredible just so that Ashley or Amanda or (junior middle hitter) Heather (Hillenbrand) or (senior middle blocker) Sam (Herman) can make a play out of it.”

Having four senior contributors has helpedfoster a greater sense of urgency to come home with a second straight title.

“We always want to 'go hard or go home,’” Cox said. “We want to go out huge. It’s our last year for four of us and we want to give it all we can to get there.”

Another senior making her final season count is Wellman, who has a nation-leading 225 aces on the season, according to MaxPreps.com.

“That did not come overnight,” Wellman said. “Those come from practicing underhand, overhand and my jump-serve. It took three or four years. And now it’s just being consistent.”

Wellman’s talents are unusual at such a small school.

“We’re just a 1A school, and (Wellman) is unbelievable,” Lewis said. “Blessed is the first word with this girl. She is such a natural athlete. Obviously, her serve is dominating right now. There were times when we barely got through one rotation because she dominated with her serving.”

Wellman also leads her team with 270 digs.

Despite the talent, the Eagles know they need to focus on each game. They learned the lesson the hard way in September, after a surprising 2-1 loss to Calvary Chapel. That was Lake Mead’s last loss of 2009. And the Eagles hope to keep it that way.

“We were happy for that (loss), because it was a great learning experience,” Lewis said. “From that point, we’ve played point-by-point, game-by-game, match-by-match. If we’re down, and that’s happened on quite a few occasions, we’re not going to panic. We’re just going to work on it point-by-point. These girls don’t panic. They just fight and take care of business.”