RENO - The Lady Wave volleyball team lifted a grizzly off its back.
With three players recording double-digits in kills, Fallon outlasted Galena in a five-game thriller - 23-25, 25-21, 25-18, 14-25 and 15-11 - Thursday evening on the Grizzlies' court.
"For the girls to fight back like that and fight through there heads, now they should believe after this," Fallon coach Derik Mullen said.
Tosha Nunes powered a team-high 15 kills, Bridgette Boswell added 12 and Siri Frey finished with 11 for the Greenwave, which improved to 3-1 in the High Desert League. Paige Olivo dished out a match-high 43 assists.
"We worked a lot with Paige this year and she runs a very efficient offense," Mullen said of his setter.
Nancy Burrows recorded a double-double with 23 kills and 12 digs for the Grizzlies, which dropped to 2-1 in league. Casey Burke finished the night with a team-high 21 digs and Madison Hardy dished out 42 assists.
Galena coach Teresa Burrows considers Fallon a good team which outplayed her young squad.
"Fallon played extremely well. They outhustled us," Burrows said. "We were inconsistent and we made mistakes. We didn't match the energy and effort on the other side of the net."
Both coaches feel the HDL will be a dogfight, especially during the second half of the season.
"It's going to be very tight," Mullen said. "The second half of the season is going to come down to who's peaking at the right time."
Burrows agrees with Mullen.
"It's going to be extremely competitive," she said. "It's going to be an interesting year."
After wining the two of the first three games, Fallon fell into a momentum slump when Galena jumped to a 9-0 lead in the fourth game. The Grizzly offense clicked similarly to the first game with Burrows, Casey Burke and Johanna Dibble attacking the net.
Burrows did not worry how her team would respond after losing the third game.
"If we didn't come out well in the fourth game, I would have been concerned," Burrows said. "We did the things that make us successful. We didn't do that in games 3 and 5."
Galena powered through the beginning of the final game with a 3-1 lead until Boswell tied it at 6 on a kill. Meihack's consistent serving allowed Fallon to gain a 10-6 lead. Along with Meihack's ace, both Frey and Nunes recorded kills in the 4-0 run.
Mullen keyed on Allysa Meihack's defensive performance where she and libero Kloei Humphrey helped tame the Grizzlies' hitting.
"Ally is probably my MVP of this game. Her defense was phenomenal," Mullen said.