Lady Tigers defeat Stockton at home

Nevada's Mariah Mock serves for a point to tie the score with the Stockton Tigers during Nevada's 2-0 win Thursday night. --Ralph Pokorny/Daily Mail

The Nevada Lady Tigers varsity volleyball team earned their sixth win of the year Thursday night as they hosted the Lady Tigers of Stockton inside Wynn Gymnasium.

The second set lull that the Lady Tigers have been battling all season long stayed away throughout Thursday's match, allowing Nevada to hold on and take a two-set victory in a crucial game. The Lady Tigers were well-aware coming into the night that they would need a strong performance to beat Stockton and that was just what they got, winning both sets, 25-18 and 25-20.

"We finally got back on track and played the way we know we can," Lady Tigers head coach Becky Lowery said. "We played consistently pretty much the whole night."

The opening set started off as a very even, up-and-down battle in which neither team led by more than two points early. The Lady Tigers were able to get a bit of a cushion as junior Allie Irwin went back and served three consecutive points to give Nevada an 11-7 lead, but that quickly changed as Stockton got all three of those points back to pull within one at 11-10.

The Lady Tigers quickly got a string of offense going after that point, eventually working their way to a 19-13 lead. The lead remained steady from that point on in the set as the two teams traded side-outs, eventually leading to a 25-18 victory for Nevada.

The second set was much the same story as the two teams traded side-outs until senior Mariah Mock went on a seven-point serving run to put Nevada up by five at 18-13. The Lady Tigers suffered a bit of a lag during the middle portions of the set, but were ultimately able to recover and hold on for a 25-20 win.

"We played hard and really earned our points tonight," Lowery said. "The girls and coaches were very proud of our performance tonight."

Mock finished the night with a team-high 10 points, two aces and 11 kills while senior Lauren Klinksick added 11 digs.

Cassidy Lowery led the Lady Tigers with six assists while Mock, Melanie Messick and Irwin each recorded one block

The JV squad showed an even stronger performance on the night as they came out winners as well, taking down Stockton in two sets by the final scores of 25-14 and 25-11.

With that win, the Lady Tigers improve to 6-3 on the year and are now set to head back out on the road Saturday, taking part in the Carl Junction tournament.