Dayton knocks off Wave in 3A volleyball

Dayton surprised the Lady Wave last week in Northern 3A volleyball by winning its match in four sets at the Elmo Dericco Gym.

Fallon faced Truckee on Tuesday for Seniors Night and then travels to Lowry on Thursday.

The Dust Devils, 9-7 in league and 11-9 overall, won the first set 25-13 before the Wave tied the match with a 25-23 second-set win. Dayton, though, came back and took the next two sets, 25-16 and 25-17. Fallon swept the Dust Devils in three sets on Sept. 21 at Dayton.

The loss dealt a blow to Fallon’s postseason chances because to advance, Fallon needs to win its final two matches. Truckee leads the Northern 3A with a 16-0 record, 25-4 overall. Fallon, 6-10 in league and 6-18 overall, defeated Lowry earlier in the season on the Greenwave court.

The Lady Wave grabbed the early lead in the opening set until Dayton tied the game at 3 and then pulled away. Mistakes at the net or with return balls hurt the Wave as Dayton surged ahead with an 11-3 run.

Rylee Buckmaster’s blocked accounted for one Fallon point, and Madison Whitaker and Kensli Rogne each had a kill. Dayton, though, had solid serving from Brianna Diaz, who notched four points, and had a kill from Stephanie Kiernan.

Diaz rotated to the serving line again and recorded three more points for Dayton.

Fallon scored seven points to finish the set, one kill coming from Whitaker and a block from Karlee Hitchcock, and the rest from Dayton errors.

Tamia Powell smashed a pair of kills for Dayton.

The Lady Wave never trailed in the second set. Both Hitchcock and Shelbi Schultz gave Fallon stretches of sustained serving. Whitaker and Hitchcock each had a kill to give Fallon a 14-8 lead, and Shultz’s serving — which included an ace — accounted for five points. The Wave led by as many as 11 points on two different occasions.

Dayton chipped away at the lead by taking advantage of Fallon mistakes. Buckmaster, though had a soft tip over the net for a Fallon point to lead 24-23. Dayton smacked the ball out of bounds on set point.

See-saw play began the third set. With the set tied at 7, Dayton pulled away on Lady Wave mistakes and key returns including a push from Shainey Vincent. Hitchcock, though, netted the Wave several points.

Powell’s serving gave Dayton a 7-0 lead in the fourth set, and Marissa Hein added six more service points. Hitchcock’s kill and a Dayton error led to two Fallon points.

Lorynn Fagg gave the Wave some consistent serving midway through the set with four points, and Fallon libero Journey Martin had two. Buckmaster had two defensive gems, a pair of back-tips that Dayton couldn’t handle. She also served an ace.