Karlee Hitchcock slams the ball over the net during the Lady Wave's match against Spring Creek.
The Lady Wave continued to grow last week, winning against Spring Creek in three sets before losing to Elko in three.
Friday’s match against Spring Creek ended with Fallon winning 25-15, 25-12 and 25-22. After a briefly tied score, the Wave jumped ahead on aces and kills, pulling ahead to 13-1 on Lorynn Fagg’s serves. While the Lady Spartans briefly took possession, they were never able to close the difference more than seven points.
The second set opened with Spring Creek’s Matty Kennedy serving. A quick side out brought Shelbi Schultz to serve for Fallon and the home team quickly took off to a five-point lead; the Lady Spartans took possession, but only gained one point before Fallon pulled ahead to 10-1. Spring Creek sided out, cutting Fallon’s lead to 15-11. The Wave crushed the rally, though, and burst to a 25-12 set win on Rylee Buckmaster and Taylor Ingram’s serves.
The final set was the closest yet; the teams were locked in a back and forth before Fallon took off to a 10-2 lead. The Lady Spartans came back, closing to three points before Fallon took the ball again; it was short lived, though, and Spring Creek closed to an 11-10 split. The teams were locked in another stalemate where the Wave would pull ahead before Spring Creek brought them back to within a couple points. Fallon persevered, however, and snatched out a set and match win.
Saturday’s match against Elko went much differently. This was a fast-paced match where the teams were evenly matched with the sets ending 25-22, 25-21 and 25-14 to Elko.
The first set was a hard back and forth before Fallon pulled ahead; while the Wave gained a lead, the Lady Indians rallied and started pulling back — Fallon stayed ahead until Elko tied the match at 20 points. Elko pulled ahead, then Fallon tied the score again before the Lady Indians grabbed a win.
The second set was just as intense, opening with another back and forth as both teams fought for a lead though Elko stayed ahead most of the set. The Lady Wave tried to fight back, pulling a late game rally to close to four points before Elko scored for a win.
The Lady Indians pulled out all the stops for the third set. Things started close, with Fallon holding its own, before Elko exploded out at 10-7. While the Wave increased their score, the home team could not catch up more than seven more points.
Macie Anderson led the Lady Wave with a total 10 kills for the week and Shelbi Schultz tallied 28 assists. Fagg was a leader in aces, hitting seven during the Spring Creek match. Every player made it on the court for all three sets in both matches.
Fallon coach Patty Daum said the matches went well. She said she saw good things from the bench Friday and felt they served well while constantly communicating. On Saturday, however, she said they played well when they were on their game, but started making errors once they fell off.
“The moment we stopped taking care of each other errors began to play a role in the game,” Daum said. “By the time we got back into our style of game, we ran out of time.”
Anderson said she felt they played well, though still need to work on things.
“We kind of lost our communication at the previous tournament and I think we got it back,” Anderson said. “We’re working more as a team instead of as individuals.”
She also said they did the best they could against Spring Creek and “brought their game” against Elko. Anderson is confident that the Lady Wave can grow and reach Elko’s level by the end of the season.
“I think we did pretty good and will continue to get better,” she said. “We’ll have a chance to beat them.”
In practice, Daum said they would work on their level of intensity and try to “get better every time they leave the gym.”
Anderson added they should also work on covering during practice. She said they need to be able to move around a lot and defend every part of the court; they will also work on offense and hitting the ball into holes in the other team’s defense.
The Wave has two matches this week. They played in Truckee on Tuesday — results were not available at press time; Fallon also plays Lowry at home at 6 p.m. Thursday.
