Fallon’s Raygen Bartel, left, and Layla Walker both try to pass the ball in their loss at Truckee last week.
Photo by Thomas Ranson.
A month after notching its first-ever win over Truckee, the Lady Wave volleyball team fell short in the second meeting with the Wolverines.
Coming in as the 3A East’s No. 4 seed and needing a win to advance to the regional tournament semifinals, Fallon couldn’t hold onto leads in the second and third sets, dropping last Monday’s contest in Truckee, 25-22, 26-24 and 25-21.
Elko successfully defended its regional title by defeating Fernley on Saturday in Fallon. Both teams will play in this week’s state tournament in Las Vegas.
Fallon was recognized on Saturday for winning this year’s Class 3A state academic team champion award after posting a 3.84 grade-point average.
After leading only once in the first set (1-0), Fallon built a 21-17 lead on Dylan Faught’s kill down the left line before Truckee’s tip landed out. The Wolverines, though, won the next six points after Charlie Derrick’s back-to-back kills, prompting a Fallon timeout.
Fallon fought off two set points when Alexis Haggard’s tip and Halle Johnson’s kill rolled off the top of the net to tie the set at 24. A tip and Charlize Elam’s kill down the left sealed the win for Truckee.
The Lady Wave jumped to a 5-0 lead with Layla Walker serving but Truckee slowly came back, getting as close to three (16-13). After Madison McLellan’s serve hit the net to give Fallon a four-point advantage, the Wolverines relied on kills from Anna Benham to close the gap before Iracel Ponce’s ace tied the set at 17.
After a Fallon timeout, Raegan Johnson’s kill gave Fallon the lead back but for the final time. Her next kill went wide before the officials reversed Benham’s kill, giving Truckee a 19-18 lead. Attack and block errors added to Truckee’s lead before Benham ended the match with a kill off the net in front of the Fallon bench.
Raegan Johnson led Fallon with 15 kills while Faught added six. Walker finished with a match-high three aces and 14 digs, Haggard had three blocks and Johnson with two, and Lea Williams led in digs with 16. Fought and Raygen Bartel each had 10 digs, and Vernita Fillmore dished out 25 assists.
SOCCER
Both the Fallon girls and soccer teams couldn’t advance into the semifinal round of the Northern 3A regional tournament last week.
The Lady Wave, who posted the best regular-season in school history with a 17-1 league record, was shut out, 4-0, on Monday in the regional quarterfinals in Fallon. South Tahoe won the tournament over Truckee after defeating North Tahoe in double overtime (4-2 on penalty kicks) and Truckee, 4-3, also in double overtime.
Although the Lady Wave’s quest to reach state fell short, Fallon was awarded the Class 3A state academic team title after posting a 3.79 grade-point average.
For the boys, who squeaked into the playoffs with a win on the final day, they fell short as the No. 4 seed, losing to South Tahoe, 5-0. South Tahoe, like the girls, won the tournament after defeating Truckee, 4-1, and North Tahoe, 3-0, in the title game.
CROSS COUNTRY
Both Fallon (3A) and Oasis Academy (2A) competed in the cross country state championship meet at Veterans Memorial Park in Boulder City.
Fallon’s lone runner, Cassandra Hooper, finished the 5,000-meter course in 24 minutes, 2.4 seconds to come in 29th. The best time came from Truckee at 19:45.9.
For Oasis Academy, Beatriz Hallberg finished 25th in 27:58.3 in the girls division, and Leonidas Arcoraci came in 33rd in the boys division after running the race in 20:54.5.