Lady Trojans spikers drop two in a row

The Lady Trojans volleyball team stayed close to Spring Valley, but close doesn't get you the "W".

The Grizzlies (2-3 overall, 1-1 Sunset League) edged the Trojans (4-6, 0-2) in the last two sets for the win, 25-22, 19-25, 14-25, 25-22 and 15-7 last Friday.

Pahrump seems to have hit a rut, where they dropped two matches in a row in league play to Sierra Vista and Spring Valley, which puts them winless in a tough Sunset League. The team is tied with Cheyenne and Clark and will try to bounce back against a 2-0 Western team (4-1, 2-0) on Thursday night at home, at 6 p.m.

The Trojans shouldn't be winless in league for long. Trojans coach Jill Harris has lauded the team all summer long and believes they have what it takes to go to the playoffs. But they need to make their move soon. She said she was disappointed in the Spring Valley loss.

"I am not sure what the problem is," she said. "Our team is not playing the way we are capable of playing. I think we are playing too safe and I hope this upcoming Boulder City tourney will turn us around."

During the Spring Valley game they came back from a one-set deficit and won two sets in a row. They just needed one more set to get the win. The fourth set for the win was exciting as the Trojans looked like they were going to roll over the Grizzlies, taking a commanding 11-5 lead in the middle of the set.

The ball placement for the Trojans girls was perfect and they looked like they would get their first league win at home, but something happened. The girls fell out of rhythm and couldn't adjust.

Trojans Athletic Director Ed Kirkwood has been there as a volleyball coach.

"In the second and third set, the Trojans looked sharp," he said. "It makes it tough when you fall behind. Spring Valley found a weakness in the back line and kept feeding the ball to that girl. Harris tried to fix it, but the points in volleyball happen so fast. Before you know it the score swings five points in the other direction. Harris then tried to calm them down with a couple of timeouts, but it was too late."

Harris said at the time she couldn't figure out what was wrong.

"The team got rattled and I had no idea why they got into trouble," the coach said. "I changed things around because I knew a player was struggling but I should have done it earlier."

In the end the Grizzlies came from behind and stole the game. They tied the set at 18-18. The Trojans retook the lead, 21-19 but couldn't hold on and lost.

The game went to a fifth set, but the fourth set had taken too much wind out of the Trojans' sails. The Trojans couldn't get their mind off the last loss and folded pretty quickly.

After the Western game on Thursday night, the girls head for Boulder City for a two-day tournament, which starts Friday at 3:30 p.m.

Stats: Jill Smith had 8 kills and 24 assists, Alexis Trieb 13 kills and Koral Hearn 8 kills.