HENDERSON — Dayton High’s Cinderella season came to a close Saturday afternoon, one win short of winning the school’s second state volleyball crown.
Powerful Faith Lutheran rolled to a 25-13, 25-18 and 26-24 over the Dust Devils in the Division 1A championship game at Green Valley High School.
The loss closed out Dayton’s season at 36-2, the best record in the state among Division 1A schools.
“Overall, I’m so impressed,” Dayton coach Monica Halverson said on the bus ride home. “I’m very happy with the season. This was a great group. They represented the school and community. I couldn’t be any prouder. It was an amazing ride, and I’m happy I was able to be part of the ride.”
Halverson said her team came out slow, and Faith Lutheran made it tough on top hitter Madi Foley from the outset.
“It was hard,” Halverson said. “The first game we wanted to come out strong. They have some real strong players, and we were nervous. We made some silly mistakes. They were shutting Madi down. We had a better serving day.”
Foley and Ashley Vickers played better in the second game, but Faith Lutheran still had too much firepower. In the third game, Dayton had a chance to extend the match to a fourth game, but were unsuccessful.
“The girls played hard,” Halverson said. “When you’re down 2-0, it’s so much harder. I thought we were going to get that third game, but we had no luck. It was a good game.”
Foley led Dayton with 12 kills and 12 digs, while Vickers added seven kills, three aces and four digs. Cheyanne Strong finished with four kills and two digs, Taryn Schriner had 11 digs, setter Peach Coons finished with 24 assists, and Lettie Lynch had one kill and four digs.
YERINGTON WINS TITLE
HENDERSON — The Lions, on the strength of 21 kills and 11 digs by Kassidy Lommori, knocked off Lovelock 25-20, 25-19 and 25-19 for the Division III championship.
Yerington finished with an overall record of 27-10.
Chloe Dane had 13 kills and 13 digs, while Angela Sciarini added 12 digs. Jazzmin Bryan contributed four kills, five digs, two aces and two assists, while Brooke Menesini had 10 digs. Setter Ashley Rife had 35 assists, six digs and a block. Jesslyna Cochrane contributed five kills.