Dayton's Makenna Olsen goes up for a spike against the Elko Indians Saturday in Dayton.
DAYTON — Dayton won’t get a lot of style points, but the Dust Devils will gladly take the win.
Led by hitter Hailey Wells and setter Shalia Powell, Dayton improved to 2-0 with a 25-19, 25-18, 23-25 and 25-23 win over Elko Saturday in a Division 1A match.
Wells finished with 13 kills and three aces, while Powell had six kills and an ace.
The Dust Devils are 2-0 heading into Friday’s home match at 6 p.m. against arch-rival Fernley.
“We fought hard throughout the match,” Dayton coach Monica Halverson said. “We were able to pick it up after we made a mistake. We had a lot of stupid mistakes; not communicating and not rotating. I do a different coverage than a lot of the girls are used to, and we’re still adjusting and learning.”
The coverage left the middle area vulnerable, and the Indians capitalized in the third game when they stayed alive.
“We played very well,” Elko coach Brian Zeiszler said. “We played better today than we did against South Tahoe. Dayton is one of the best teams in the league.”
A 7-2 run in Game 1 enabled Dayton to extend an 18-15 lead to 23-17. Wells had two kills in that span (six for the game), while Powell had a kill and stuff block. Kills by Jill Wright and Lexi Baum made it 23-19, but Wells pounded one down off an Elko block and Powell found an opening for the game-ending kill. Brianda Diaz had three kills in the opening game.
The second game was a back and forth affair that featured ties at 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16 and 17 before the Dust Devils got hot at the end. After tying the game at 17, Dayton ran off six straight points for a 23-17 lead. Rachel Hadley had an ace, Powell stuff-blocked Wright and Kassie Strong delivered two kills. Elko also had two errors in that span. Wright ended Dayton’s run with a kill to make it 23-18, but the Dust Devils scored two straight points to win it.
As is the case a lot, the team with the 2-0 team lets up, and that’s exactly what Dayton did in the third game.
“When I coached two years ago, the second game was a problem,” Halverson said. “We won the first two games easily, but didn’t have the mental toughness to nail it down.”
Elko turned a 10-9 game into a 16-9 game, as Jordan Pollard had two aces and a kill in that span, and Baum pounded a kill when a Dayton pass went over the net.
The Dust Devils hung tough, fighting back to a 22-all tie. Wells and Powell had three kills each to lead the comeback. The Dust Devils were called for four hits and then Makenna Olsen had a hitting error, enabling Elko to grab a 24-22 lead. A tip by Kallie Strong made it 24-23, but the Indians avoided the sweep on Baum’s kill to the middle of the Dayton defense.
The fourth game featured six ties. Elko led most of the way until a block by Kallie Strong tied the match at 15. With the game tied again, this time at 17, kills by Rebecca Mason, Diaz and Wells keyed a 4-0 Dayton run, giving the Dust Devils a 21-17 lead. Elko scored six of the next eight points, tying the match at 23. Sydney Allen led the Indians’ surge with two kills.
Wells made it 24-23 with a kill, and after a lengthy rally, Hadley’s downball eluded the Elko defense to end the match.
“She (Wells) started strong and finished strong,” Halverson said.
SOCCER
Carson girls win again
SPARKS — Isabella Wakeling scored a hat trick and Julie Torres added two goals to lead the Senators to an easy 5-2 crossover victory at Spanish Springs Saturday morning.
Carson is 3-0 entering Tuesday’s game at Hug.
“It was a good game,” Carson coach Greg Lehman said. “We moved the ball around well, and everybody played and contributed valuable minutes.”
• The Cougars won the JV game, 3-0.
Carson boys post another shutout
SPARKS — Abel Sanchez and Oscar Ventura scored goals to lead the Senators to their third straight win, a 2-0 blanking of Spanish Springs Saturday afternoon.
The shutout was the third straight for CHS, which has outscored opponents 12-0. Carson visits Hug Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Sanchez’s goal came in the first 90 secods of the match. He dribbled through a couple of defenders and left-footed it in. Ventura’s goal came when a CHS shot bounced off a Cougar defender and he pounded it home.
“We had some great opportunities, but their goalie made some good stops,” coach Mike Alvarez said. “One of those stops was on a header by Luis Torres. Our defense was again solid.”
• Trinity Medina scored twice and Raoul Lopez once to lead Carson’s JV to a 3-1 win.
Dayton boys blanked by Indians
ELKO — Elko scored two goals in the first half and added three more in the second half to knock off Dayton, 5-0, Saturday in a Division 1A match.
“Elko has a great team, definitely one of the best in the league,” coach Luis Melgarejo said. “We have to learn from these types of games with hard work. We weren’t physically or mentally fit today. I’m sure we will be more focused and prepared when we play them on our home field.”
Dayton’s only highlight was when keeper Gabriel Dums stopped a first-half penalty kick.
CROSS COUNTRY
Bus breakdown forces CHS to miss meet
Carson High’s bus broke down at the top of Donner Summit, forcing the Senators to miss the Nevada Invitational in Grass Valley on Saturday.
“It was two hours by the time another bus came, and by then it was too late to compete,” CHS coach Pete Sinnott said. “We had a real good week of practice, and the kids were looking forward to competing.”
