Lincoln County hungry for 2A state title
Lincoln County High School’s girls volleyball team was one match away from winning the Class 2A state title last year. The Lynx swept North Tahoe (Calif.) in the semifinals but ran out of gas against Whittell in the championship match.
After returning all but two players from the state runner-up squad, including Southern League Most Valuable Player Marissa Smerek and several all-league selections, Lincoln County is hoping for another shot at the title.
And last year’s defeat might be enough motivation to get the Lynx there.
“It always helps out as a coach if you have a great class of girls that are young who make it to the state championship game,” said Lincoln County’s Ken Thornock, the 2008 Southern League Coach of the Year. “You hope that experience will fire them up and get them ready to say, 'We want to return but also make a more effective run,’ meaning that we want to win that game.”
Lincoln County’s returning players set lofty goals this season.
“When we got to the state game, it didn’t turn out exactly how we wanted, so it has made us work that much harder,” said Smerek, a senior captain. “We felt like we could have worked harder in practice. Now, we are playing more to win than not to lose.”
Thornock thinks consistency at every position has been the team’s greatest asset.
“When you’ve got five seniors on the team, you’re relying on them to carry the load,” Thornock said. “Eight of my nine players play consistently, so you’re looking at a pretty good team effort. That is always the key to be successful. There are teams that can be dominant with one player, but in volleyball, (that one player) is only on the front row for three rotations, so you need someone who can follow them for the next set of rotations.”
Lincoln County’s 23-2 season record includes only one loss against in-state competition. That defeat came against Class 1A powerhouse Pahranagat Valley three days after the Lynx beat the Panthers in a tournament at White Pine.
“Pahranagat is one of those teams that don’t take things lightly, and they came back prepared,” Thornock said. “I think my girls overlooked them a little bit and got beat pretty handily. ... We have some goals to return to the state championship, and losses like that aren’t very cohesive with that (goal).”
The loss taught the Lynx more about themselves than their opponents.
“We realized that just because we were good last year, we shouldn’t expect to be good this year,” Smerek said. “(A state championship) won’t be handed to us. We have to play every game, one step at a time, and we really came together after that match. It was an eye opener to see that we could lose that bad.”
