Menu
Lady Tigers derailed by St. Pius X
In a tough matchup Thursday evening at Wynn Gym, the Nevada Lady Tigers volleyball team dropped a two-set West Central Conference match (25-15, 25-17) to the visiting St. Pius X Lady Warriors.
With the loss, Nevada is now 15-9 overall and 7-3 in conference-play.
"We knew coming into the night that we were going to have to play some pretty lights out volleyball to win," NHS head coach Ashley Thoreson said. "Overall, I saw a lot of good things tonight that we struggled with in the past. Our blocking was much better. We were running the net really well and our serving was aggressive."
An Ellie Smith kill early in the first set trimmed the Lady Warriors lead to 4-3. From there, Nevada reeled off three of the next four points to grab a 6-5 edge. The set continued to go back-and-forth with St. Pius holding a 14-12 advantage.
The Lady Warriors then began to pull away. A cross-court kill courtesy of St. Pius senior outside hitter Faith Wright put Nevada on the brink, with the scoreboard reading 24-15. The match ended on a Nevada hitting error, as St. Pius used an 11-3 spree to close out the set.
The Lady Tigers came out hot to open the second set, going up 4-0. St. Pius responded with a 15-4 run to go in front 15-8. During the extended run, Lady Warriors senior outside hitter Anna McGurn did major damage with her serve, hitting the Lady Tigers with a barrage of aces, including one on a short-serve.
"We could not break (McGurn's) serve," Thoreson said.
A Megan Hold block cut the St. Pius lead to 23-16, but it wouldn't be enough as the Lady Warriors closed out the set taking two of the final three points.
"Overall, we played good, but in each set we gave them big runs that we couldn't fight back from," Thoreson said. "Their outside hitters kept swinging. We were blocking them and they kept swinging.
"Our hitters kind of shut down when they get blocked, so hopefully we can learn from that. We need to keep moving and keep swinging. And we need to get some more options on the front row."
Thoreson said she was pleased with other aspects of her squad's performance.
"We knew coming into the night that their outsides were going to be their big hitters, and I think we did a great job of shutting down their outsides," she said.
'Dig for a Cure'
Before and during the matches, NHS held its annual "Dig for a Cure" event to promote breast cancer awareness.
Thoreson said she couldn't have been happier with the community and fan support the event received.
"This is the sixth year I've been a part of 'Dig for a Cure' night, and I think the turnout gets better and better," Thoreson said. "There's a lot of support behind it and it goes to a good cause.
"I know the girls always look forward to this night, with such a big crowd and all of the things going on, so it was a really good night."
For the Lady Tigers, Smith finished with nine digs, five assists and three kills; McKinley Ellis six assists and four blocks; Kaitlynn Johnmeyer, five blocks; Adrian Bond five blocks; while Margaret Cavener and Hold chipped in three kills apiece.
JV and freshman scores
The Lady Tigers junior varsity team (15-4) fell to St. Pius 25-20, 25-15, while NHS freshman team (19-5) was defeated in two sets 25-12, 25-20.