Volleyball is all about playing as hard as you can, taking your lickings and moving on to the next opponent. This is especially true when the perennial champions, the Pahranagat Valley Panthers come roaring in to Beatty.
Panthers Coach Ginger Whipple’s teams are hard to beat. The Panthers have gone to the state title match 17 times. They beat the Hornets 3-1 on Friday. Hornets are now 5-7 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Hornets Coach Dale Lerbakken was upbeat about his team’s performance.
“I was very happy with our play against Pahranagat,” Lerbakken said. “We beat them the second match 30-28, and in the other matches we were always in the game, so we know it’s possible to beat them. I feel with Lucero and Ashley there we would have beat them. Maggie Cathcart was outstanding defensively with 14 digs. Christina Thompson and Denise Gonzales had great all-around stats also.”
Lucero Hernandez and Ashley Granados are two players who started the season late and Lerbakken believes the two will add more height and experience to the Hornet front line. Their first game will be against Lund.
The Hornets travel to Lund for their next match on Friday at 1 p.m. This is the team the Hornets faced last year in the playoffs.
“We are getting ready for Lund. Haven’t heard anything about them yet, but they are always a tough team to beat at their home. This week we’ve been working on getting Ashley and Lucero in the rotation for better blocking and stronger hitting,” Lerbakken concluded.