Trojans volleyball advances to region semifinals tonight in Boulder City

The Lady Trojans soundly defeated the Chaparral Cowboys at home last night in three sets, 25-8, 25-16 and 25-18 in the first round of the 3A Southern Region playoffs.

Pahrump has finished for the last four years in the playoffs but this was the first time in those years that the girls finished as the number one seed.

The number one seed gave the Trojans the home court advantage in the quarterfinals.

Despite having the home crowd advantage, the Trojans themselves took their crowd out of the game by winning the first two sets so decisively.

The crowd never really became a factor until the the third set, sensing a win, they came alive to celebrate.

The third set was the only time Pahrump didn’t have a lead. They made a few mistakes in the beginning. The Cowboys at one point in that set had a three-point lead.

“Sure, we made a few mistakes in the game,” Trojans coach Jill Harris said. “But we didn’t get down on our mistakes and we didn’t quit. We kept playing and let the mistakes roll off our backs, which hasn’t always happened this season.”

Good setting, sound serving and great defense gave the Trojans the lead late in the set again and the Trojans (23-13) never gave it up.

Trojans coach Jill Harris was excited about her team’s win.“We had a lunch meeting and the girls wanted this win,” she said. “They wanted to go for it and came in with the mindset that they would take it.”

All coaches understand that in the playoffs anything can happen and just because you have the number one ranking going in, teams are not just going to give up for you. Harris knew going into the playoffs that any team could knock them out.

“In the past against Chaparral (7-11) in the playoffs, we have always come out in the short end,” the coach said. “This was kind of nice to win. You never know in the playoffs how things will come out in the end. It’s a brand new season and you can’t always give it to the upper-ranked team.”

Jackie Stobbe and her serving was one of the reasons the Trojans came up with the victory. The team turned to Stobbe last night when they needed solid serving and she delivered by serving four aces.

“She is our top server by the percentages,” Harris said. “She also has a high percentage of aces.”

“It has taken me a lot of practicing and many years to perfect that serve,” Stobbe said.

The Trojans server said she gets herself into a rhythm and tries not to think too hard about the serve. She said her team put a lot of hard work into getting to the playoffs.

“I am so excited to be going into the playoffs,” Stobbe said. “We have a great team and I feel we will do very well. I think we are all coming together and playing really well.”

The Trojans will travel to Boulder City (16-19), the second-place seed of the Sunrise League today at 6 p.m.

Harris feels her team will win.

“Whoever shows up will win,” she said. “They are a veteran team. If we show up it will be us again.”

Trojans stats: Alexis Trieb nine kills, Bethany Calvert seven kills, Isabelle Meza seven kills, Jill Smith 20 assists and Jacki Stobbe four aces.

Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvtimes.com