Truckee enters tournament as team to beat

Truckee’s Lady Wolverines will be going into the Northern 3A Regional Volleyball Tournament as the top team of the region with a flawless 16-0 record.

According to coach Erika Murphy, her team has been great this season, despite being younger than last year’s. Most of the players have lots of experience on the volleyball court as well as playing other sports.

“What came in as sophomores and freshmen have come in having played a lot of volleyball year round,” Murphy said, noting many of them played for volleyball clubs between seasons as well.

The team has four seniors, with three of them having gone to state already. Among them is Maia Dvoracek, a 6-foot-1-inch player with a career total of 1,039 kills — the most in the state — and 185 aces. Murphy was very happy with Dvoracek’s performance and has enjoyed the opportunity to coach her.

“She’s just a positive influence on the rest of the team,” she said, adding that the senior was a big motivation to the rest of the team and kept everyone’s spirits up. “To me, she’s just been a joy to coach.”

So far this season, most of Truckee’s games have been a victory in four sets. The coach recalled the team would occasionally lose focus for a set or they would try a new rotation that didn’t work out. They will approach the tournament with a fresh start, though, and hold no expectations of what to expect from any of the competition or overlooking anyone as a sure thing.

“We just treat it like we’re 0-0 again,” Murphy said.

She was confident of their skill, though, and noted the team had gone to state nine years in a row.

The coach was confident if they made it past their first game of the tournament, the team would have a good shot at going to state for a 10th year.

The Lady Wolverines will have their first game tomorrow at noon. They will face off against the winner of tonight’s South Tahoe vs. Lowry game, starting at 5 p.m.