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Lady Tigers topple Clinton in five sets, notch first victory of season
A five-set victory over visiting Clinton Tuesday night handed the Nevada Lady Tiger volleyball team its first victory of the season.
The Senior Night thriller moved Nevada to 1-6 on the season.
The first set remained tight, and was knotted at 14-apiece. A pair of kills courtesy of sophomore outside hitter Abbey Heathman sparked a 5-1 Lady Tiger run, as Nevada pulled away for the 25-21 first-set victory.
The second set also featured several early lead changes, with the momentum eventually swinging to Nevada's favor.
Clinton trailed 14-10, but pulled even at 16-16. Nevada then rattled off six consecutive points, highlighted by sophomore Trinity Gayman's block, and capped by junior setter Jade Feller's ace — for a commanding 22-16 advantage. Nevada ultimately won the second set by an identical margin as the first set.
Behind the steady front-row play of senior middle blocker Morgan Hendrich, Clinton stormed back to dominate the third set, going in front by scores of 11-4 and 19-11 en route to the 25-13 win.
Clinton carried over their strong play into the fourth set, keeping Nevada at arms length the vast majority of the way.
A 25-17 Clinton win sent the match to a decisive fifth set.
Only playing to 15 points, Clinton jumped out to a quick 4-1 advantage. Nevada struck back with a 10-3 blitz, and led 11-7.
Trailing 12-8, Clinton managed to trim its deficit to two at 13-11. Nevada then took two of the next three points to secure the win.
Picking up her first career head coaching victory, Kori Dodson said she was pleased with her club's effort.
"I feel like we've finally hit that turning point," Dodson said. "It feels good to finally get that off our back, and now we can move forward."
Dodson attributed the victory to team chemistry, as well as top-notch front-row play.
"We've finally been able hold a rotation together, with certain people playing together, so the chemistry has really grown," Dodson said. 'And — our defense and our blocking. Our first line of defense was exceptional."
After relinquishing a two-sets-to-none advantage, Dodson implored her squad to be on their toes entering the fifth set.
"Clinton went to more of a tipping game, and we just weren't on our toes and ready," she said of the third and fourth sets. "They were hitting spots that we weren't at, and weren't ready for. The message was — 'start playing defense.'"
One move of note during the five-set chess match, was that Clinton head coach Sarah Turner opened the fifth set with her most impactful player, Hendrich, on the bench. Hendrich made a brief appearance near the midpoint of the set, but again exited back to the bench.
"I'm not sure why they did that, but I was thankful for it," Dodson said with a wry smile.
Dodson discussed what her squad needs to do in order to carry over its momentum into Thursday's non-conference road-clash with Sedalia Smith-Cotton.
"Keeping that intensity," she said. "Volleyball is such an intense sport, where you need that talk and intensity to elevate your game. We had that in sets one and two, so we just need to carry that over into Thursday night to keep this momentum going."
Lady Tiger stat-leaders included senior libero Kadence Trosper with 14 digs, while Feller concluded with a game-high 31 assists.
Gayman, meanwhile, chipped in 11 kills, five blocks, and four aces.
In junior varsity action, Nevada (8-4) drubbed Clinton in two sets — 25-14, 25-11. The Lady Tiger C-team (7-4-2) made it a clean sweep with a 25-17, 25-11 triumph.