No luck: Nevada Volleyball loses all three games at Cal Tournament
Nevada lost 3–0 to California Berkeley, 3–0 against Butler University and 3–1 against North Dakota State.
Nevada battled hard in the first set against Berkeley, with the score being back to back throughout the game. Junior setter Andrea Alcaraz gained Nevada four points, three of them being aces, to lead 10–7. Senior outside hitter Mima Mirkovic went on to serve four times to lead Berkeley 22–17. Nevada only gained two more points before Berkeley finished the game, winning 25–19. Sophomore outside hitter Reka Monteleonehad an outstanding four kills and one ace in the set.
An even closer second set against Berkeley ended up in a loss for Nevada. Outside hitter Katie Smoot, senior, had four kills. Three service errors by Nevada, two by Alcaraz and one by senior libero Kaila Spevak, were a big setback with the game ending in another victory for Berkeley, 25–22.
Berkeley took over the third and final set. They held Nevada with only two points to their 11. Libero Sarah Schrag, freshman, had a six time serve streak. Throughout the set, Nevada trailed by half, ending up only scoring 14 points and Berkeley winning at 25.
Berkeley led with kills-Katie Smoot had 12, and Nevada’s Reka Monteleone had 8. They also led with aces, having 7 to Nevada’s 1. Nevada led over Berkeley in blocks (15–8), assists (34–26) but tied in digs with 27 each.
Nevada took on Butler next.
In the first set, Nevada had a struggle with keeping the ball in the court. There were multiple hits that went deep or outside of the antenna. Nevada took the lead late in the set when setter Sophie Mangold, freshman, served three times to make the score 21–20. They were not able to hold the lead and lost 25–23.
Butler had a lead in the second set at 15–10, when Nevada’s right side hitter, Kyla Waiters, senior, got a kill to start a comeback. Monteleone added to the fight with back-to-back kills. This was no problem for Butler, who kept Nevada at 19 points to their 25.
Nevada held a tight lead in the third set until Butler tied them 9–9. A four run serve streak by middle blocker Grace Boggess, freshman, kept Butler on top, winning 25–18.
The leaders of kills at Butler were Melody Davidson (11) and Amina Shackelfolrd and Mariah Grunze with seven. Nevada’s leaders were Monteleone and Sia Liilii with 10 kills each, and Sydney Petersen with six.
Butler led in aces with six to Nevadas 3. In blocks, Butler had 19 and Nevada had 6. Butler also led in assists with 34 and Nevada with 31.
On the second day of the tournament, Nevada had one game against the North Dakota State Bison.
The first two sets were close in score, each ending with the Bisons on top 25–22. Setter Chelsea Vaughan, senior, started off the first set serving six consecutive points for Nevada. Three attack errors at the end of the game led the Bisons to victory.
The second set had back and forth kills by both teams. Nevada hada total of seven errors while the Bisons had six. Bison Outside hitter Ali Hinze, sophomore, and defensive specialist Ava Schmoll, junior, had the only two aces of the set. The Bison won 25–22.
Nevada really stepped it up for the third set. The two middle hitters, Sydney Petersen, junior, and Sydney Wyman, freshman, had multiple blocks and kills for Nevada in the third set. Spevak served eight points for Nevada and Vaughan had another five points served to end the match 25–14. This was their only set won during the tournament.
Nevada battled hard in the fourth set, but did not succeed. The Bison came out with the victory, 25–21. Middle hitter Michelle Glover, junior, had five kills, two blocks and one ace for the Bison.
Nevada led in blocks (14–7), but the Bisons led in kills (54–48), aces (6–4), assists (48–34), and digs (75–60).
The Nevada Classic is the next tournament for the Wolf Pack. The first game is Sept. 16 at the Virginia Street Gym.
Kelsey Middleton can be reached at kelseymiddleton@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @kelsmiddleunr
Originally published at http://nevadasagebrush.com.
