Galena volleyball beats Fallon

RENO -- They needed this one to insure a postseason berth.

The Grizzlies' volleyball team made up for an earlier loss to Fallon and handed the Greenwave its third straight loss Thursday night. Galena defeated Fallon in four games, 26-24, 18-25, 25-18 and 25-13, to strengthen its position for a bid to the regional tournament in two weeks.

"Every game is a must-win," Galena coach Teresa Burrows said. "We were more consistent in our attack and we played better defense. We picked up on their off-speed hits and their tips."

The Grizzlies improved to 6-4 in the High Desert League for third place, while the Greenwave dropped to 5-5 after losing to Bishop Manogue and McQueen in the past week. Fallon is fourth in the HDL.

"It was a mental breakdown," Fallon coach Monica Schmutz said. "Some people showed up to play and others did not. We needed all 10 players to beat this team."

Fallon, which opened the league season losing only to McQueen and Bishop Manogue, has seen the second half of the season head into a downward spiral. Galena, however, is now where Fallon used to be as it closes the season at Elko and at home against Manogue next week.

"I feel like we've had to overcome adversity and outside factors have affected us," Schmutz said. "We're trying to fight through it."

Like Galena, Fallon must win its final two games to avoid tiebreakers and advance into the postseason. The Greenwave hosts Reed on Tuesday and then travels to Spanish Springs on Thursday.

The top teams from each the Sierra and High Desert leagues advance to the Northern 4A regional tournament on Nov. 2 and 3 at Galena. The state tournament is the following weekend in Las Vegas.

Brooke Keever led three Grizzlies in double figures in kills as she tallied 16 and also had 25 digs for a double-double. Rebecca Pate finished with 13 kills and Emily Aguiar added 11 and had 14 block assists. Bree Crook dished out 19 assists and Megan Fincher had 18, while Anna Mestre recorded 22 digs.

In all three games the Grizzlies won, Fallon had to battle with multiple deficits.

Galena pinned down Fallon in the first game, 19-10, but the Greenwave battled back to tie it at 23 on Tosha Nunes' kill. Aguiar scored Galena's next two points on kills for a 25-24 lead, and Chelsea Hejny's kill sailed long on the final point.

Galena's biggest lead of the night, however, came in the last game when it opened with a 7-1 run after Aguiar's two consecutive kills. Fallon closed the gap to three points, 11-8, but Galena went on a 5-0 run after Hejny's lift. Errors led to the majority of Galena's last seven points with Nunes and Maggie Nelson both having difficulty landing balls in.