The annual Pahrump Valley Volleyball Invitational was held at Pahrump Valley High School on Saturday and attracted 16 teams from all over Southern Nevada for play.
The tourney was won by the Division 3 Calvary Chapel Lions from Las Vegas under Coach Nick Davis. Once again the Lions played very well to take the tourney championship going 6-0 against a wide variety of teams. The Lady Lions have yet to win a state crown, but played in the semifinals last year.
The Lions played the Division 4 Pahranagat Valley Panthers in the tourney championship. PV lost in two matches, 25-17, 25-14. The Panthers are always perennial favorites to win their division. The Panthers, under Coach Ginger Whipple took the team to the state playoffs last year and lost to Tonopah. Whipple has appeared in the state finals 17 times going back to 1996.
Whipple said she pretty much has the same team as last year.
“We have a lot of girls on the floor that have played but we still have some that are filling in spots and they never played before. We have girls that did not serve last year, serving this year. Yes, this experience makes a difference and my girls have a ‘I am not going to lose attitude,’” Whipple said.
Overall the tournament had 16 teams from Divisions 1, 1-A, 3 and 4.
All the volleyball teams from Nye County represented Tonopah, Round Mountain, Beatty and Pahrump.
Tonopah was the best Nye County team. Beatty lost in pool play before they could go up against Tonopah.
Coach Jill Harris organized the tournament and felt it ran smoothly. Teams competed at three local schools, J.G. Johnson Elementary School, Rosemary Clarke Middle School and Pahrump Valley High School. The tournament action was spread out for the whole day starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 8 p.m.
“The actual tournament itself ran very smoothly. I was glad to have some new teams this year. Hopefully they all enjoyed the tournament,” she said.