Fallon's Kayla Buckmaster sets the ball up for a return to Lowry.
After spending the first three weeks of the season on the road, the Lowry High School volleyball team was able to get on its home floor for the first time this week.
The Lady Bucks welcomed rival Churchill County to Winnemucca and the Greenwave played the Grinch, knocking off Lowry in three sets 25-22, 25-26 and 25-17. Lowry dropped to 1-1 in the Northern 3A with the defeat.
“Except for a couple girls, we just could not put the ball away tonight,” said LHS coach Brandon Eastman. “We need to be more consistent with our play. We came out and played good in the first set, but gave up a run at the end and we could never get back in the match. The good thing is, it is still early in the season. This was a measuring stick for us and we know now, we are not where we want to be.”
Fallon (2-1) scored three of the first points in the opening set, but Lowry fired back with a 4-1 run off of kills by Brooklyn Waller and Madison Montero to put the Lady Bucks up 5-4.
The back-and-forth battle continued, as the Greenwave went back in front 8-7, following a block by LeAnn Stands and a kill by Aleisa Billips. Neither team could find a rally to pull ahead, as the first set saw 12 ties, each squad traded points. Montero kept Lowry in the set with four kills and a block.
Lowry pulled out to a 19-16 lead, forcing Churchill County to call a timeout. The stop in action worked, as the Greenwave scored the next four points. One came off an ace by Lorynn Fagg, which hit the top of the net and dropped down, and the final point on a kill by Haylee Paladini. On the strength of a kill by Montero, Lowry tied the set at 22-22, only to see Churchill County score the final three points.
It was much of the same to start the second set, as the two teams traded the first 14 points to stay even at 7-7. Montero had three kills and Hannah Hillyer a block during that stretch. Churchill County began to takeover after back-to-back-points by Whitney Skabelund, which included a clock and kill. The Greenwave capped off an 11-2 run with a string of kills from Paladini, Skabelund and Stands.
Lowry picked up kills from Montero and Hillyer late in the set, but it was too late, as Faith Cornmesser ended the set with a block.
The Greenwave took that momentum into the third set and scored seven of the first nine points and never looked back. The Lady Bucks closed the gap to two points at 7-5, but the Greenwave stretched the advantage back out to 16-9.
Lowry fought back and were within three points at 17-14 after a kill by Waller, but Churchill County bounced back with consecutive kills from Skabelund to close out the victory.