DIVISION I-A VOLLEYBALL: Trojans overcome slow start, trump Cowboys in four sets

Chaparral’s girls volleyball team made it to the state championship match last season, and Pahrump Valley made sure the Cowboys couldn’t recapture that magic again on Tuesday.

The Trojans earned a 17-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-23 win in the Division I-A Southern Region quarterfinals, thanks largely to Payton Hart’s 12 kills and Lauren Ashford’s 24 digs.

Pahrump Valley (18-16) will meet Boulder City in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday at Chaparral.

After her team dropped the first set Tuesday, Pahrump coach Jill Harris remained calm.

“I don’t know why, but we just start games so slowly,” Harris said. “It took us a bit to get accustomed to our surroundings. However, the girls didn’t quit, and this was a good win tonight.”

Each of the next three sets all came down to key plays late. In the second set, the Trojans got three big kills from Hart to even the match at 1-1.

The third set was tied at 20 before Chaparral (13-10) made three serving errors, which led to the Trojans taking the lead in the match.

The Trojans led 17-16 in the fourth set before clutch blocks from Mikayla Davis, and points from Hart sealed the victory.

Hannah Kirschbaum had 18 kills, four aces and three blocks to lead Chaparral. Anais Servis added 18 digs and three kills for the Cowboys, who also got 27 assists and nine kills from Alejandra Macias.

Boulder City 3, Cheyenne 0 — Whitney Barlow had 19 kills as the Eagles made short work of the Desert Shields, 25-12, 25-16, 25-16.

Kendall Miller had 27 assists and three blocks for the Eagles (21-9), and Alyssa Ybarra added 16 digs. Bria Buchanan led the Desert Shields with four kills and four digs. Erin McNally had an ace and four digs for Cheyenne.

Clark 3, Moapa Valley 1 — Emi Ataona had nine kills and five aces as the Chargers downed the Pirates, 15-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-16.

Atanoa got plenty of help in the win for Clark (14-12), as June Roberts had seven kills and four aces, and Bobbi Floyd chipped in six kills and three blocks.

Makenzie Bush had 17 kills for the Pirates.

Faith Lutheran 3, Sunrise Mountain 0 — Megan Panikkar had 17 assists and five aces as the defending regional champs won for the 16th time in 17 matches, 25-7, 25-5, 25-16.

Faith Lutheran (23-12) will meet Clark (14-12) at 5:15 p.m. Thursday.

Cayla Nikodemus had 11 kills for the Crusaders, and Courtney Hansen added eight kills and five aces. Haley Vinson and Morgan Hill each had six kills for Faith Lutheran.