Dayton High’s Riley Glynn goes up for a kill Tuesday evening against Smith Valley. Glynn, a senior captain for Dayton, leads the Dust Devils with 161 kills this season.
Photo by Carter Eckl.
It’s been six years since Dayton High volleyball has represented at the Class 3A state tournament.
This season, with a 21-4 record, the Dust Devils plan to be in Las Vegas when the middle of November comes around.
A five-set win over Class 1A’s Smith Valley (16-4) Tuesday was certainly another step toward that goal, as the Bulldogs will likely be making a state tournament run of their own.
“We have to win the rest of our games, first and foremost,” said Dayton head coach Alyse Fletcher. “Elko beat us because our mindset wasn’t there. … We got behind and we broke down. So for us, it’s just to stay in that hype mindset.”
A late September loss to Elko is Dayton’s only stumble in its last 12 matches.
The Dust Devils boasts a 4-1 record and took on Elko in a rematch Friday evening.
Leading the charge
Senior leadership is a big reason why the Dust Devils are in the position they are.
Riley Glynn is one of the leading hitters in the state with 161 kills, per MaxPreps, topping the Class 3A North.
Her ability to send shots to the floor is based around her athleticism with Glynn standing in the mid 5-foot range.
Fellow senior Hallie Peterson has 112 kills and has been an effective second option on the attack for the Dust Devils.
“We have really good chemistry,” said Peterson. “I’d say being more aggressive. Earlier I was kind of shy, but since it’s my senior year, I knew I needed to be more aggressive.”
Dishing out those passes to Glynn and Peterson have been setters Kassandra Miller and Penny-Laine Vaelua.
Miller, a senior captain, has 219 assists this season, which is third in Northern Class 3A.
She trails her teammate, Vaelua, who has posted 236 assists in her junior season.
“We’ve been really working our sets to be faster, quicker, shorter and moving them. We’re a really short team going against really tall teams so we have to get creative and move stuff,” Fletcher said.
“For hitting, our setters have been giving us the ball. They know how to move it around the block and everything,” said Glynn. “It’s all been working together.”
(Dayton High’s Hallie Peterson has 112 kills this season for the Dust Devils. Tuesday, Peterson and company dispatched Smith Valley in five sets. Carter Eckl / Nevada Appeal)
Steps along the way
For Dayton, working in a more effective block has been the focus of the team.
The Dust Devils have a shorter team this season, leaving the block a bit more exposed for team’s with taller hitters.
“We’ve been working really hard on blocking, which has been our weakness for years,” said Fletcher.
Junior Ayisha Agee and senior Rachel Ply have been the main line of defense this season.
Agee has put together 28 blocks for the Dust Devils while Ply has added 21 of her own.
“I was really worried in the offseason. We have a short team, we have like two big clicks,” said Fletcher. “I’ve been very impressed, starting with our first tournament, which we won.”
After a handful of tournament matches to open the season, Fletcher started to see things click as the Dust Devils ran into tougher opponents.
Fletcher still points to a late August matchup with Galena, where the Dust Devils took out their Class 5A opponent in straight sets.
“I think at this point, it’s just trying to keep our mentality all the same,” said Glynn. “Less of point-to-point and more working together.”
As of Friday morning, the Dust Devils had the best league record in Northern Class 3A and hope to be celebrating at Hug High School, during the regional tournament in three weeks.
(Penny-Laine Vaelua bumps a ball for her teammates Tuesday against Smith Valley. Vaelua leads the Dust Devils in assists with 236. Carter Eckl / Nevada Appeal)