Fallon's Evan Matheson, right, spikes the ball during a match this season as Taylor Amezquita (2) and Ali Tedford, left, look on. The Lady Wave beat South Tahoe in five sets on Saturday.
A bold stand propelled the Fallon volleyball team to a five-set win over South Tahoe on Saturday as part of the Lady Wave’s Breast Cancer Awareness night.
Fallon slipped past last year’s defending state champs 22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 16-14.
The critical victory keeps the Lady Wave in the hunt for the fourth playoff position in the Northern Division I-A. Fallon played at Lowry on Tuesday in a must-win match.
The Lady Wave, as of Tuesday, were 6-7 in league play, while Lowry was 7-6. Results were not available at press time.
Dayton (13-0) and Truckee (11-2) have clinched playoff berths, while Fallon, Lowry and Elko (8-4), South Tahoe (6-7) and Fernley (5-7) are still in the hunt.
“If we can win three matches, we can pull into fourth comfortably,” Fallon coach Pattyy Daum said. “Otherwise, it will come down to a tiebreaker with Winnemucca (Lowry).”
As for Saturday, Fallon struggled early in the first set as the Vikings raced out to 15-4 lead. The Lady Wave, though, rebounded and cut the lead to 19-15 after a block by Evan Matheson. Matheson came up big all night as she recorded eight kills and three blocks.
In the second set, the two clubs played close, but Fallon took a 21-19 lead on a kill by Mary Scholz. Scholz tallied 12 kills for the match.
Ali Tedford iced the game with one of her 13 kills. She also recorded 19 assists. Miranda Ford, meanwhile, came off the bench in the second set and provided energy and strong defensive play for Fallon. She tallied five kills, two blocks and nine digs.
“Miranda Ford rocked,” Daum said. “She came in, she played all the way around. Absolutely great job.”
Fallon took a 2-1 lead after the third set, but South Tahoe secured a 25-23 win in the fourth set. In the fifth game, the teams battled to a 14-all tie, but Matheson served out the match to give Fallon its second 3-2 victory over the Vikings this season.
“They played smart tonight,” Daum said. “We hadn’t been very lucky in going five (sets) this year, but tonight they came through.”