Nevada volleyball wins four out of five in Pittsburg
Nevada Daily Mail
The Nevada Tigers volleyball team improved to 10-3 on the season, after winning four games at Pittsburg's annual varsity volleyball tournament over the weekend.
The tournament took place in Pittsburg High School's Megan Mallatt Gymnasium. Nevada entered as two-time defending champions of the tournament, which features pool play.
In their first match, seniors Rilie Good and Morgan McNeley led the way for Nevada as they defeated opponent Girard in three sets, (25-22), 25-22 and 25-19.
For the match, Good spiked home 17 kills, and McNeley delivered 19 assists. Sophomore Megan Hold came up with 7 aces, and Lexie Overton went for 20 digs.
"One of my favorite things about the volleyball season is the day-long tournaments that we get to attend," Tigers volleyball coach Ashley Thoreson said. "It's always a good bonding opportunity for the team as well as the parents and fans ---- as we all get to eat, talk and just enjoy the environment for an extended day."
Thoreson said Nevada came out cold against Girard, but added that her team typically gets off to slow starts for Saturday morning matches.
"When we don't bring our intensity and 'A' game, we can be beat," she said. "Girard has two girls from last year's team that have really improved (including a 6'3" middle hitter), so that was a good win for our first match."
For their second match of the day, the Tigers needed three sets to shake Aurora, (27-25), 26-24, and 26-24.
McNeley was the star of this match, compiling 26 assists. Overton added 14 digs.
"We had to make pretty substantial comebacks in both games, which shows how good this team can be," Thoreson said.
"With us being in a new northern conference, I was really looking forward to this match (against Aurora) since they play a lot of the teams in the southwest," she said. "And it's always nice to see how we match up against those schools.
"It took coming back from 23-18 (against Aurora) and then we really put it on them in game three."
Thoreson said the team had a lunch break prior to their third match of the day, which was against host school Pittsburg.
"We were able to eat, but you could tell playing six sets in a row really had us tired," Thoreson said. "We played Pittsburg next, and the toll it had really showed."
Nevada was defeated in two sets by Pittsburg, 25-21 and 25-18,
"We made many unforced errors and didn't have the energy to even put up much of a fight," Thoreson said. "This would have been a very winnable match under different circumstances."
Against Pittsburg, McNeley tallied 13 assists and 8 kills, while Overton chipped in with 7 digs, and senior Mikayla Bartlett added an ace.
After another break in the action between games, Nevada regrouped, and then handled business against Frontenac, pulling out the three set victory, 26-24, (25-22), and 25-15.
Against Frontenac, in addition to her 10 digs, McNeley was an assist machine, totaling 31, while Good rebounded with 16 kills. Sophomore Ellie Smith led the team with 3 aces.
"Pool standings for this tournament were figured on record and on a point system," Thoreson said. "And going three sets was not to our advantage. Even though we finished 3-1 in pool play, we were seeded third out of five in our pool based on the tie-breaker points.
"This allowed us to play Paola (Kan) for our bracket game, which was a rematch of last year's championship match."
The Tigers edged Paola in three sets, (25-21), 25-23, and 25-22.
Adding to their totals, McNeley finished out with 21 assists and four aces, while Good's 12 kills were a team-high for the match. Overton scooped 14 digs.
"Overall, we had a very successful and fun day," Thoreson said. "It's always best if you can win first. But we were able to play 14 total sets and be really successful going 4-1 on the day."
The long day of volleyball allowed for Thoreson to get some of her younger, less experienced players on the court.
"This really helped with getting more experience and playing time for some of our younger players," she said. "We are going to need it going forward with some very tough competition looming."
Individual team leaders
* McNeley: 110 assists
* Good: 60 kills
* Hold: 11 aces
* Overton: 63 digs
Upcoming match
Nevada travels to Kansas City today to face West Central Conference opponent St. Pius X, with the junior varsity game beginning at 5 p.m.