Nevada varsity tumbles to Mac County

The Nevada Tigers dropped their Southwest Conference volleyball match to McDonald County at Wynn Gymnasium on Thursday. Nevada (7-11-2, 3-4 in conference) lost two straight games, 18-25 and 22-25, to the Mustangs. The Tigers, struggling to find a consistent attack all season, were further depleted by the loss of senior Jenny McCullough, one of their stronger hitters. McCullough suffered a broken finger while retrieving balls at the junior varsity tournament on Saturday. Nevada, seemingly always in a defensive mode, never led in the first contest, but did manage an 18-17 advantage late in game two before the Mustangs took control down the stretch. Veronica Mosier topped the Tigers with three kills and added two solo blocks. Ashley Beckett was the block leader with three. Lacy Leonard's nine service points paced the Tiger scoring. The Nevada junior varsity (6-17-1, 2-5) fell 14-25 and 23-25 to McDonald County. "We couldn't get anything going in the first game, but in the second the girls started to come through and show more effort," said JV coach Allison Gorman. "That was a big turnaround from early on in the season and something that we've been working on." The JV held a small lead late, but was unable to pull out the win as the Mustangs scored the last five points of the match. C.J. Moore and Britney Clay led the Tiger scoring with six and five points, respectively. Mandi Gash was the kill leader with four. The freshmen team (17-1) continued to impress with a two-game sweep of McDonald County, 25-9 and 25-10. "Tonight was our last home game, so it was a big win for that reason," said freshmen coach Lisa Ballou. "It's been a great run and the girls have been great. It's just been an awesome year." The freshmen close out a tremendous season on Tuesday at Neosho. Kaitlin Holland served for 19 points, while Kellie Cooper had eight. Brittany Brower and Amanda Wilson led in kills with four and two, respectively. Cooper was the assist leader with four and Ashleigh Bryson added three.