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Wolverines win regional title, head to state for 13th straight year

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The Truckee girls’ volleyball team capped off an undefeated run through league play on Saturday, dispatching a pair of opponents in the regional tournament to repeat as Northern champions.

The Wolverines opened the league tournament against Elko, and cruised past the Indians in straight sets, 25-18, 25-15, 25-14.

Senior Kelly Cross led Truckee with 19 kills. Senior Quinn Kirschner posted a team-high 42 assists and had five aces. Senior Joy Galles led Truckee with 17 digs, and had five aces as well.

The Wolverines then faced South Tahoe in the tournament finals later that afternoon, and took a 3-1 victory to repeat as league champions.

After dropping the first set 25-14, the Vikings kept things close in the second set as the teams played through several lead changes. Ultimately, the Wolverines took the set, winning 25-22.

The third set played out much like the second with Truckee and South Tahoe swapping leads multiple times. The Wolverines ended up hitting serves into the net on several occasions, allowing the Vikings to keep their championship hopes alive, claiming a 28-26 victory to force a fourth set.

“They struggled with that,” said Coach Erika Murphy on the team’s serving in the third set. “My team doesn’t usually struggle with that … it was just a lack of focus.”

In the fourth frame, South Tahoe was the team making mistakes with several service errors to allow Truckee to win the set 25-19 and the Northern League title.

“That fourth set, we came back, and we came together as a team, which was what was really important in order to win,” said Cross.

Cross again led the Wolverines with 24 kills.

“Playing South Tahoe is always hard, and it’s a blast,” said Cross. “For us, it’s so exciting to continuously win and go to state for our 13th time in a row.”

Kirschner finished with all 63 Truckee assists and also had a trio of aces.

“It’s really exciting for all of us, especially since 11 of us are seniors,” said Kirschner. “It’s a great way to end our league season.”

Kirschner also sparked Truckee in the final set, making a number of hustle plays and twice fooling the South Tahoe defense by setting the ball over the net to an open area in the middle of the floor.

Senior Kaley Settle also had three aces, and was second on the team with 17 kills.

By reaching the finals of the Northern League tournament, Truckee and South Tahoe earned berths into this weekend’s state championship tournament in Las Vegas. South Tahoe will face defending champions Boulder City, and Truckee will play the Southern League’s No. 2 seed, Moapa Valley. The tournament is slated to begin on today, and will conclude on Saturday with the state championship match.

Justin Scacco is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. Contact him at jscacco@sierrasun.com or 530-550-2643.

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