Durango, Silverado ousted in 4A semis

RENO -- There will be no fairy-tale ending after all for Durango coaches Kelly O'Quinn and Bob Kelly. Nor will there be a state volleyball title for Southern Nevada.

South teams went 0-for-2 with losses by Durango and Silverado on Friday in the Class 4A state semifinals at Damonte Ranch High School

Reno will face Bishop Manogue in an all-Northern final at 4 p.m. today

Reno defeated Durango 3-1, pinning a loss on O'Quinn and Kelly in their final season of coaching girls volleyball, and ending the Trailblazers' postseason run.

Durango was unable to continue its magic from last week's regional championship, but O'Quinn was pleased her team went as far as it did.

"I didn't even think we'd go to the regional, and then we won it," she said. "I'm just happy these girls got to experience this, because they're a great, great group of girls."

Aside from a flurry by Durango in the second set, Reno controlled the match, winning 25-17, 17-25, 25-17, 25-12.

O'Quinn said Reno's fast tempo was hard to handle.

"We're not used to that," she said. "Besides Bishop Gorman, it's slower volleyball in Las Vegas."

In the other semifinal, Bishop Manogue used superior blocking to outlast Silverado, 25-22, 25-27, 25-23, 26-24.

"They set up a really solid block, and we struggled to get around it," Skyhawks coach Jennifer Boeddeker said. "We knew they had two very strong hitters, and they ran a very diverse offense. Unfortunately, our block wasn't there."

Boeddeker also felt the late start hurt her team.

"I think it's difficult to come up here and play so late," she said. "We're looking at a match that ended at 11:30."

• Truckee (Calif.) 3, Moapa Valley 0 -- Truckee trailed most of the first game before pulling out a 26-24, 25-19, 25-19 victory over Moapa Valley in a Class 3A semifinal.

Truckee will meet Yerington in the title match at 10 a.m. today.

"If we had won that game, I think it would have been a little bit different," Moapa Valley coach Matt Messer said.

Instead, Truckee caught the Pirates off guard by setting the ball to Michelle Hoehn, not Nikki Schneider or Callen Finney, who were the Wolverines' primary hitters when the teams met early in the season.

"We wanted to make somebody else besides (Schneider and Finney) beat us, and (Hoehn) beat us," Messer said.

• Whittell 3, The Meadows 2 -- Whittell rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat The Meadows, 22-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-17, 16-14, and preserve its hopes for a sixth consecutive state title.

Whittell will face Lincoln County for the Class 2A state title at 2 p.m. today.

The Meadows led 14-13 in the fifth set.

"It's a heartbreaker," coach Stephanie Heller said. "A few mistakes here and there, and it could have gone either way."

• Lake Mead 3, McDermitt 0 -- Lake Mead put on a clinic in the Class 1A semifinals, routing McDermitt, 25-12, 25-16, 25-12.

The Eagles (32-4-3), who lost to Owyhee in the semifinals the last two years, will face Pahranagat Valley for the title at noon today.

Pahranagat Valley was a 25-19, 25-10, 25-23 winner over Owyhee in the other match.

Jessica Rinaldi had 18 assists to key Lake Mead's offense. Ashley Newton had 16 kills, and Amanda Wellman added five kills, seven aces and seven digs.