The Pahrump Valley High School varsity girls’ volleyball team battled through five tightly contested sets Tuesday, Aug. 25, coming away with a 3-2 victory over the Rancho High School Rams at home in Pahrump.
The Trojans were pushed throughout the evening, winning the opening set 28-26 before Rancho answered with a 26-24 victory in the second. Pahrump regained the advantage with a 25-23 win in the third, but the Rams forced a deciding fifth set after taking the fourth 25-21. With the match on the line, the Trojans held off a late Rancho rally to claim the fifth set 16-14 and secure the match.
Pahrump came out strong in the opening set. After Rancho scored first, Xe’ane Kamanu put down a kill to even the score and then stepped behind the service line, where an ace helped the Trojans move ahead 3-1.
The offense continued to find opportunities from several different players. Miani Freitas-Faamai recorded a kill for a 5-2 advantage, and Riley Saldaña followed with another to make it 6-3. Alyvia Morin then served a ball Rancho was unable to return.
With Pahrump leading 8-4, Morin came up with a dig during a rally that eventually ended with a Kamanu kill. Saldaña followed with a kill of her own and then delivered back-to-back aces, helping the Trojans build a 12-4 advantage.
Pahrump stretched the lead as large as nine points, but Rancho steadily worked its way back into the set. The Rams eventually tied the score at 21 and moved ahead 23-21, putting the Trojans in a late hole.
Pahrump responded under pressure. After a Rancho serve went out of bounds, Henna Maiava served and Kamanu played a ball at the net that Rancho could not return, tying the set at 23. The teams traded points from there, with Olivia Veloz contributing an important block as neither side was willing to give ground.
Tied at 25, McKinsey Nottingham used a soft touch to find the floor and give Pahrump a 26-25 lead. Rancho answered, but Saldaña put the Trojans back in front with a kill that was blocked out of bounds. With Morin serving at 27-26, Rancho was unable to complete the return, giving Pahrump the 28-26 victory.
The second set developed into another back-and-forth battle. Rancho built an early lead, but Pahrump stayed close behind kills from Saldaña and Kamanu and a well-placed soft touch from Nottingham.
Kamanu helped turn a 10-9 deficit into a 12-10 Pahrump lead with consecutive aces. Rancho responded, and the teams continued trading momentum.
Later in the set, Saldaña served through a productive stretch for the Trojans. Nottingham put down a spike to tie the score at 16, Kamanu followed with a spike for a 17-16 advantage and Rancho was unable to return the next rally, pushing Pahrump ahead 18-16.
Rancho again fought back, but Pahrump answered late. With the Trojans trailing 21-20, Maiava served a ball the Rams could not return and then followed with an ace for a 22-21 lead. The teams reached 24-24 before Rancho scored the final two points to take the set 26-24 and even the match.
Neither team was able to create much separation early in the third. Freitas-Faamai used a touch to score Pahrump’s first point and, after two defensive plays by Evalenne Armendariz helped keep another rally alive, Freitas-Faamai finished the point to tie the score at 2.
She struck again following a long rally to make it 3-3, and Pahrump soon moved ahead. Saldaña recorded a kill to tie the set at 5 and then stepped to the service line for an ace and another serve Rancho could not return, giving the Trojans a 7-5 advantage.
Rancho eventually surged ahead 13-9 and later led 20-17, but Pahrump refused to let the set get away.
Maiava went to the service line with the Trojans trailing 20-17 and helped spark one of the key runs of the match. Rancho was unable to return her first serve, and Maiava followed with consecutive aces to tie the score at 20.
The teams were still even at 22 when Veloz put down a spike to move Pahrump ahead 23-22. Rancho tied it once more, but Saldaña delivered a spike on the next rally that the Rams managed to save before failing to send the ball back over, putting Pahrump at set point. With Morin serving, Rancho’s return attempt struck the pole, completing the 25-23 Trojan win.
Rancho answered in the fourth, but Pahrump again started well. Freitas-Faamai opened the scoring with an attack that Rancho could not successfully block, and Kamanu followed with a short-serve ace. Freitas-Faamai then used a tip to help Pahrump take an early 3-0 lead.
Saldaña added a kill, while a Pahrump block helped extend the advantage to 5-1. Maiava later sent a ball over that found the floor, and a well-placed set from Maiava led to another Saldaña kill for an 8-4 lead.
Saldaña followed with an ace to make it 10-4, while Nottingham, Veloz and Kamanu all contributed offensively as the set progressed. Rancho, however, erased the deficit and moved ahead late. Pahrump remained within striking distance, getting kills from Saldaña, Kamanu and Freitas-Faamai before the Rams closed out the set 25-21 to force a fifth.
With the entire match coming down to the deciding set, the Trojans found themselves down 2-0 before Veloz connected on a spike off a short set from Maiava. Saldaña followed with a kill, and Pahrump tied the score at 3 when her tip resulted in a Rancho block falling to the floor.
The Trojans began to take control with Morin serving. Rancho committed a net violation to put Pahrump ahead 5-4, and Morin followed with an ace. The Trojans then won a rally at the net to stretch the lead to 7-4 before Morin delivered a short-serve ace for an 8-4 advantage.
Pahrump continued applying pressure, moving ahead 10-5 as Rancho was called for consecutive net violations. The Rams made one final push, however, trimming the deficit and eventually tying the deciding set at 11-11.
A Rancho attack went out to give Pahrump the lead again, but the Rams answered to tie it at 12. On the next rally, Sedona Norton came up with the dig, Maiava delivered the set and Veloz finished with the spike to put the Trojans ahead 13-12.
Kamanu served as Pahrump picked up another point to reach 14-12, but Rancho fought off match point and tied the score at 14.
Saldaña responded with an attack on the next rally, with Rancho’s attempted play ending in the net to give Pahrump a 15-14 advantage. Veloz then went to the service line for match point. Saldaña met the ensuing ball at the net, and her block landed on Rancho’s side to finish the 16-14 victory.
Head Coach Amber Lugo said the match showed her something she had been looking for from the Trojans, even as the team continues working to improve.
“We still have much to work on and improve,” Lugo said. “But I saw the grit we have been missing. Yes we lost leads. However, we ultimately were able to get it done.”
That ability to finish was tested throughout the night. Pahrump saw advantages disappear in multiple sets but continued finding ways to respond. After nearly an entire evening of momentum shifting from one side of the net to the other, the Trojans ultimately did exactly what Lugo wanted to see — they found a way to get it done, closing out the five-set battle with a 3-2 victory on their home court.
