The Pahrump Valley High School junior varsity girls’ volleyball team showed steady improvement during its road match against Coronado on Thursday, Sept. 10, finding more offensive opportunities as the evening progressed.
Coronado claimed the match in two sets, 25-4 and 25-16, but the Trojans responded to a difficult opening set by playing a much more competitive second frame.
Marely Gomez delivered an early spike to put Pahrump on the scoreboard in the first set. The Trojans also picked up points when they forced Coronado into attack errors, while Bentlee Chiancone and Skye Plunkett contributed from the service line.
Pahrump faced a strong stretch of serving from Coronado during the middle of the set and had difficulty establishing its offense consistently. Coronado used several aces to pull away before closing the set, 25-4.
The Trojans returned to the court with a stronger showing in the second set. Isabella Calixto placed a well-directed bump into an opening in the middle of Coronado’s court for one of Pahrump’s early points, and the Trojans later added another with a controlled attack over the net.
Pahrump began to build momentum midway through the set. After consecutive Coronado errors brought the Trojans within 13-6, Abigail Sutton stepped to the service line and recorded an ace. Raenalynn Domingo followed with a tip over the net, and Sutton added another ace to complete a three-point run that cut the margin to 13-9.
Gomez later served an ace, followed by another from Plunkett as Pahrump continued to generate points from behind the service line. Sarah Penner added a well-placed tip late in the set, and the Trojans found open court for another point as they increased their second-set total to 16.
Although Coronado secured the set and match, Pahrump’s improved communication, serving and placement helped the Trojans more than quadruple their scoring from the opening set and provided several positives to carry into their next games.
