Green Valley rallies, earns berth in final

RENO -- The ball deflected off a teammate's hands and looked to be headed out of bounds, but Green Valley's Taylor Seidler wasn't about to give up on it.

Seidler raced nearly to the bleachers to make the save, which led to a kill by Caitlin Brickley, giving the Gators a key point that helped them rally from a two sets to one deficit to beat host Bishop Manogue 25-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-21, 15-8 on Friday and advance to the Class 4A state volleyball championship match.

It will be the second consecutive state championship appearance for the Gators (28-9), who lost to Silverado in four sets in last year's title match.

They got there with tenacious defense, turning around a match that Bishop Manogue had taken control of at the net.

"That's how we've been taught to play, never to give up on any ball and never to let any ball drop, because without the ball dropping there's no point," Seidler said.

Bishop Manogue's Kyra Miller, who finished with eight kills and eight blocks, had four blocks and three kills in the third set as the Miners began to exert control of the net. But once they righted themselves, the Gators trailed just once in the fourth game, 7-6, and once in the fifth game, 1-0.

"The turnaround was the enthusiasm this team has and the incredible desire to get every ball on every point," Green Valley coach Erin Hill said.

Brickley's kill after Seidler's save ended a Bishop Manogue run and gave the Gators a 24-20 lead in the fourth set, and once they got the momentum turned their way, they didn't give it back.

"They were blocking well early, and we got tentative," Hill said. "We talked about that we've got to swing to win, and then we started to run some different plays to get them one-on-one instead of hitting into a two-man block."

Emma Johnson had 19 kills for the Gators, Brickley 16 and freshman Nikki Drost 15 as Green Valley began to play with more confidence in its attack in the final two games.

"We preach defense, and when the defense is done, the offense will come," Hill said.

Green Valley will face Douglas in today's final at 4 p.m.

Douglas beat Bishop Gorman 27-25, 25-23, 29-27 to earn a spot in the final.

"We didn't have our 'A' game today," Gorman coach Ed Van Meetren said. "They ran a fast offense, and we weren't able to control it. Our block was just continually late all night, and I have no idea why."

Van Meetren said the Gaels made 20 hitting errors, about twice as many as they average.

"We weren't able to run the middle at all, and 20 hitting errors is way out of the norm for us," he said.

Liz Manthei led Gorman (31-9) with 13 kills, while Kylie Shaw had eight and Gianna Ruggeroli five.

CLASS 3A

Dayton ended Boulder City's hopes of a state title, downing the Eagles 25-16, 25-23, 25-18 in a Class 3A state semifinal at Galena.

Avalon Frantz paced Boulder City (24-12) with 29 assists and two aces. Whitney Barlow added eight kills, and Emily Boyster and Dallas Frantz each had seven kills for the Eagles. Boyster also had seven blocks, and teammate Ali Rants supplied 27 digs.

Dayton (20-5) will face Truckee for the state title at 2 p.m. today.

CLASS 2A

The 2A final will be an all-north affair, as Whitttell will take on Yerington.

At Manogue, Whittell (14-18) beat The Meadows, 24-26, 25-22, 25-11, 21-25, 15-8.

The defending state champion Mustangs finished 31-4.

Yerington (35-1), which will be making its fifth consecutive appearance in a state championship match, its first in 2A, beat Lake Mead, 25-14, 25-14, 25-17.

Lake Mead coach Diana Lewis said she knew what her team was up against and said the Eagles stood up against it as well as they could have.

"We knew what to cover, but you can only do what you can do," Lewis said. "When you lose to a team, you hope it's to a team like that."

Ashley Newton had 12 kills and three blocks for Lake Mead (24-14), and teammate Colleen Zumaran had four kills and four blocks.

CLASS 1A

Ciera Smallwood served 13 aces and had eight assists as defending Class 1A state champion Pahranagat Valley (23-7) moved into the title match with a 25-13, 25-13, 25-8 sweep of McDermitt (21-7) at Galena.

Dakota Day had 11 kills and two aces, and Halie Lewis and Kyla Mortensen each added seven kills for the Panthers. Lewis also had 11 digs.

Kimberly Lewis dished out 11 assists and served five aces for the Panthers.

Pahranagat Valley has won 11 of the past 13 Class 1A state titles and will face Coleville for the title at 10 a.m. today.

Coleville (24-2) rallied for a 20-25, 13-25, 25-20, 25-16, 15-10 win over Tonopah.

Deanna Van Poucke paced Tonopah (31-7) with 17 kills, six blocks and two aces. Britney Klapper had 37 assists and seven digs, and Sam Kimber contributed 16 kills and four blocks for the Muckers.