Lincoln County players top 2A all-league volleyball selections

With a 14-0 record in the Class 2A Southern League, the Lincoln County girls volleyball team finished four matches ahead of everyone in league.

When the all-league selections were announced, the Lynx dominated those, too.

Lincoln County middle blocker Marissa Smerek was named league Most Valuable Player. The 6-foot-1-inch junior had 13 kills in a 3-0 state semifinal win over North Tahoe before the Lynx fell 3-1 to Whittell in the title game.

“She does everything well,” Lincoln County coach Ken Thornock said of Smerek. “She attacks well, she reads the ball well, she has great vision on the court. She’s one of the best passers and she does an excellent job of playing the whole game.”

Thornock was named league Coach of the Year for Lincoln County, which finished 23-10 overall.

“It’s an honor to be named Coach of the Year,” he said. “The year was a struggle at first, but by the time league came around, we got most of our things ironed out. We found ourselves as a team at that point.”

Kori Gloeckner and Maicah LeBaron were first-team all-league selections for the Lynx, who also had Morgan Christian and Jaycie Cluff named to the second team.

Defensive Specialist of the Year went to The Meadows libero Kristyna Fong.

The rest of the all-league first team was comprised of: The Meadows’ Laura Walsh; Needles’ Haley Laswell and Carri Walters; and White Pine’s Oakley Almberg, Catlin Ankey and Alynna Ruesch.