3A Southern: Boulder City tops Moapa Valley, wins first region title since 2011

Boulder City’s Maggie Roe saw where the Class 3A Southern Region final was heading Friday night, and she didn’t like it.

So the 6-foot-1-inch senior took it upon herself to help the Eagles break a six-match losing streak to Sunrise League rival Moapa Valley and win their first region title since 2011.

“The third set kind of made me mad,” said Roe, whose team got mauled by 15 points after grabbing a two-set advantage. “And I was like, ‘That’s not going to happen again.’ So I just got really feisty.”

Roe had seven kills and two aces in the fourth set, and Boulder City held off the Pirates for a 25-23, 25-23, 10-25, 25-23 victory at Sunrise Mountain.

It was the Eagles’ first win over Moapa Valley since Oct. 7, 2015.

“I wanted payback the whole, entire time,” said Roe, one of just three seniors and the Eagles’ only four-year varsity player. “It just feels so good. I’m so happy right now.”

Roe finished with a game-high 21 kills to go along with nine assists, five digs and six blocks. And much like she’s done all season for a team featuring eight underclassmen, Roe provided a strong veteran presence when it counted most, touching the ball on nearly every possession in the fifth set.

“I took her aside (after the third set) and was like, ‘This is it. Show them you can be a leader and dominate on the court,’” said Boulder City coach Cherise Hinman, also Roe’s mother. “And she did.”

With the score tied 1-all in the fourth set, Boulder City won the next six points with Kamry Bailey serving to grab momentum. The win, though, wouldn’t be easy.

Moapa Valley pulled within 20-19, but faltered after a Boulder City timeout.

Following the timeout, Roe had one of her six blocks during the set’s longest rally, and the Eagles won three of the next four points to take a commanding 23-20 lead.

Boulder City won the set after Eden Whitmore’s attempted kill sailed long for match point.

“What pulled us through these matches was heart, and actually, the inexperience of even being here,” Hinman said. “Because over half my roster is freshman. They didn’t know better.

“They proved that they could get it those first two sets. And they weren’t going to let it go.”

Bailey finished with 10 kills and 11 digs, Rachel Krumm had four aces and Ashleigh Wood had 10 digs for Boulder City.

Whitmore had 14 kills to lead Moapa Valley (28-11).

Shelbi Walker and Dannika Gordon each added 10 kills, and Aria Messer had 34 assists and four aces.

“Boulder came to play tonight,” Pirates coach Mandie Matheson said. “We give a lot of credit to them. They played really tough, and they just outplayed us. … They were hot. They did a really nice job — defensively, on the net, digging balls. And we kind of shut down a little more than we usually do.”

Both teams advance to next week’s Class 3A state tournament.

Contact reporter Ashton Ferguson at aferguson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0430. Follow @af_ferguson on Twitter.