Lady Tigers knock off Smith-Cotton as they improve to 8-0

Friday, September 16, 2016
NHS senior outside hitter Margaret Cavener makes a play Thursday night at Wynn Gym. (Photo by Matt Resnick/Daily Mail)

For only the second time this season the Nevada Lady Tigers needed a third set to dispatch an opponent, as NHS toppled Sedalia Smith Cotton 25-19, (25-22), and 25-10 Thursday night at Wynn Gym.

With the West Central Conference victory, Nevada ups it record to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in WCC-play.

The first set remained tight throughout, with 12 ties and lead changes. With the score knotted 14-14, NHS went on a 7-1 run capped by an Ellie Smith pass to Megan Hold for a point. Hold finished the play with a hard spike to hand the Lady Tigers a 21-15 advantage.

Smith again found Hold for the kill, putting Smith-Cotton on the brink as they trailed 24-19. Smith then finished off Sedalia with an ace to conclude the set.

Nevada built up second set leads of 7-2 and 10-4 before Sedalia stormed back to take the set.

The third set was all Nevada, as the Lady Tigers opened with a Margaret Cavener ace, followed by a Hold kill. Nevada senior McKinley Ellis then replied to a Sedalia point with back-to-back kills as NHS led 4-1. From there, the Lady Tigers peeled off an 11-4 run to grab a 15-5 lead.

A perfectly placed Cavener cross-court kill increased the NHS lead to 19-8 as the Lady Tigers coasted to the third set victory.

"That's the team I know we can be," NHS head coach Ashley Thoreson said of the Lady Tigers third set masterpiece. "If they stay focused we can play like that all the time."

After seizing control early in the second set, it appeared as the Lady Tigers were on their way to their seventh two-set victory of the season.

Nevada Lady Tigers senior defensive specialist Elena Rodriguez readies a serve Thursday against Sedalia. (Photo by Matt Resnick/Daily Mail)

"I think we just checked out a little early in the second set," Thoreson said. "I thought we had it done in two, but we just lost our focus and started making errors we hadn't made all season; net calls and things like that, running into each other in the back row.

"Once they figured out that Sedalia wasn't going home without fight, we started playing much better, and swinging much more aggressive, which helped."

Thoreson added that her team learned a lesson from its loss of focus in the second set.

'They came into the third set with much more intensity," she said of her senior-laden squad. "They played well together and got the job done a lot easier."

Thoreson said the perfect start to the season is exciting for the NHS volleyball program.

"The girls put in a lot work in the offseason," she said. "So I knew that we would be able to come out a lot stronger to open the season than maybe we have in the past. But I definitely did not expect this. They're working hard in practice.

"All three teams (varsity, junior varsity, freshman) are finding that chemistry and playing really well together. It's exciting to watch. During timeouts, it's hard to come up with something to say, because we're playing so well."

For Nevada, senior setter Ellie Smith finished with a team-high 17 assists, 14 digs, and seven kills. Hold recorded 10 kills, six aces, and four blocks. Sophomore middle blocker Adrian Bond chipped in with five blocks.

JV and freshman

The NHS junior varsity team toppled Smith-Cotton in two sets 25-21, 25-18 as they improve to 12-2 overall. The freshman team followed suit with a two-set victory (25,11, 25-13) moving to 13-1 overall.

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