Volleyball: Beatty slam the door shut against Eureka

The Beatty volleyball team is enjoying a three-game winning streak going into this week's game against Sandy Valley.

The Hornets (6-1, 1-0 Division IV Southern) took apart Adelson in the middle of last week, 25-14, 25-18 and 25-11, beat Eureka at home, 25-21, 25-18, 17-25 and 25-22 and Mountain View on the road, 25-8, 25-9 and 25-22.

The Lady Hornets face their toughest challenge to date when they play Sandy Valley at home at 7 p.m.

Hornets coach Steve Sullivan is hoping to be at the top of the conference this year and is pleased with the way the team has been playing.

"I knew we could beat Eureka, I just wasn't sure if we would," Sullivan said. "They are a very talented team just like we are and I knew it would come down to who worked harder. My starters played with a lot of intensity and I could tell how hard they were working."

He said he made a minor coaching mistake against Eureka and took his starters out in the third set.

"The second group came out really strong, but Eureka rallied back and I couldn't stop the momentum because I had run out of timeouts," the coach said. "When I put my starters back in the fourth set, Eureka was riding on momentum, but in the end our girls out worked them for the win."

Offensively the coach feels his team is getting better with each game.

"Our hits looked good, a lot better than our win against Adelson," Sullivan said. "The girls were more aggressive and consistently attacked the ball even when Eureka would get a few blocks on us. Though we are improving in that area, our placement of our hits is something we need to work on."

Defensively Sullivan also believes his team has improved.

"These girls are naturally scrappy," he said. "We do tend to get flat-footed at times and fail to get in position defensively, but when they do it right it's very tough to earn a point against them."

Sullivan has his entire squad back from last year, with the exception of three players. Beatty hopes to return to state this year.

Beatty is at home against a much-improved Sandy Valley team (6-1, 1-0). In their most recent victory the Sidewinders beat Round Mountain in three sets. This game could decide who goes to the playoffs and who stays home.

In other regional Division IV action Tonopah (4-9, 0-1) is at home against Indian Springs. The Muckers play Sandy Valley on Oct. 2 and Beatty on Oct. 13.

Stats: Adelson: Vanessa Gamboa 6 kills and 2 aces; Bridget Vieyra 1 kill, 2 aces. Eureka: Vanessa Gamboa 7 kills, 2 aces; Claudia Granados 7 kills, 3 aces; Maggie Cathcart 2 kills, 5 aces; Anel Gamboa 5 kills, 2 blocks; Karina Villanueva 3 kills, 5 aces and Lexi Gil 5 kills, 15 assists.