SMALL SCHOOLS: Lund nets spot in semifinals
Melynda Boren and Kaitlin Farnsworth have taken turns leading Lund’s girls volleyball team all season.
So with their playoff hopes on the line Friday, it was only fitting for the duo to carry the Mustangs into the Class 1A Southern League semifinals.
Lund opened the decisive fifth set against Indian Springs with two consecutive kills from Boren before Farnsworth served two straight aces. The quick four points sparked Lund to a 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 16-25, 15-11 victory in the quarterfinal round at Sunrise Mountain.
“Those are our two key players, our two most positive and experienced players,” Mustangs coach Charis Maynard said. “It’s up to them to bring their team up. They needed to.”
Fourth-seeded Lund (7-8) advanced to face No. 1 Pahranagat Valley (20-7) in a semifinal at 11:40 a.m. Saturday. Third-seeded Beatty (16-13) will meet No. 2 Tonopah (30-5) in the other semifinal at 10 a.m.
The winners of the semifinals will meet in the final at 2 p.m., though both will clinch spots in the state tournament.
Boren led Lund with 16 kills and two aces, and Farnsworth had five kills, seven aces and six digs.
The Thunderbirds (9-18) pulled to within 11-10 in the fifth set, but Lund was able to pull away and clinch the match on a kill by Farnsworth.
Jo Erekson had seven aces for Lund.
Alexxa Reinke paced Indian Springs with 17 kills and four aces. Heather Thormahlen had 15 assists and six aces for the Thunderbirds, and Tessa Lounsbury had seven kills.
Beatty 3, Round Mountain 1 — Alyssa Regalado had eight kills and six aces to lead the Hornets to a 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 25-12 win to eliminate the Knights (5-18).
Kaitlin Ulrich added three kills, three blocks, three aces and seven assists for Beatty.
Beatty coach Dale Lerbakken said his team, which includes 10 seniors, was hungry to advance in the postseason after bowing out with a 3-0 loss to Pahranagat Valley in last year’s quarterfinals.
“I’m just so proud of them,” he said. “There are 10 seniors on this team, so next year is going to be a building year. The seniors have shown a lot of great things.”
The Hornets jumped to a 12-3 lead in the first set and a 13-4 lead in the second to take early control of the match.
“We need to do that,” Lerbakken said of starting fast. “We’re not very good at playing in close games. We feel more comfortable with leads. If we can get out to that, we have a lot more success.”
Carla Chavez led Round Mountain with six kills and two blocks.
Tonopah 3, Sandy Valley 0 — Deanna Van Poucke tallied 10 kills, three blocks, three aces and two digs to lead the Muckers to a 25-4, 25-10, 25-11 sweep of the Sidewinders (3-10).
Tonopah’s Sam Kimber and Elaina Dunn added seven and six kills, respectively. Britney Klapper had 20 assists and two aces for the Muckers, and teammate Alli Friel added 10 aces and two kills.
Kenzi Smith led Sandy Valley with three kills and two blocks.
Pahranagat Valley 3, Trinity 0 — Halie Lewis had six kills, five aces and two blocks to help the Panthers cruise to a 25-4, 25-13, 25-6 sweep and eliminate the Thunder (0-10).
Kyla Mortensen added six kills for Pahranagat, which closed the first set on a 22-1 run.
Andrea Martinez led Trinity with two kills and four digs.
CLASS 3A
Boulder City left almost everything it had on Virgin Valley’s home floor.
Thankfully, for the Eagles, they’ll have just enough left to head to Reno next week.
Boulder City defeated Moapa Valley in the Class 3A Southern League semifinal 25-13, 25-14, 25-23, then downed Virgin Valley (18-7) in the title match, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 21-25, 15-12.
The Eagles (24-11) will be the South’s lone representative in the 3A state tournament next weekend.
Kayla Nix had eight kills and Mallory Bird seven as the Eagles breezed past the Pirates (11-22).
But the final was anything but easy.
“It was exhausting for both teams,” Boulder City coach Cherise Roe said. “The rallies were intense and long.”
Nix had 10 kills, and Bird and Dallas Frantz added nine each. Avalon Frantz had 39 assists, and Ali Rants had 27 digs for the Eagles.