Lady Vandals Hit the Road following Jackpot Win

Eureka hosted Jackpot in league volleyball action last week and won in fairly easy fashion 25-5, 25-7, 25-10, making amends for a 3-0 loss at Jackpot last year.

Vandals coach Kathryn Benson said Jackpot was “struggling to get it going,” passing, handling the ball and returning serve.

Benson said Shauna Brown had five aces in the match to go along with 20 assists. Alia Minoletti was credited with seven kills and Savannah Sanders recorded 10 digs. “The girls are playing very well supporting and communicating with each other on the floor,” she said.

This is an important week for the Lady Vandals. They faced White Pine on Tuesday in non-league action, losing in three close sets, 20-25, 19-25, 21-25. It was the third time they have played White Pine this season, including tournament games, and have lost each this. This weekend, the girls return to league play with a trip to Carlin and Owyhee, and a likely overnight stay Friday in Elko.

The Braves (8-5, 2-0) are the defending league champion and were the state runner-up last year to Pahranagat Valley. In matches with Owyhee since 2007, Eureka is 3-6 and have lost the last two matches. Against Carlin, it is more favorable for the Vandals, a 6-2 record and wins in the last four meetings.

Benson said she expected the Owyhee team, which has only two seniors, “to be very scrappy. They seem to be able to defend just about anything, creating long rallies. They lost their biggest hitter and attacker to graduation, but they are still a formidable team.” Carlin (1-4, 0-1) on the other hand, didn’t do that well last year (going winless), and I don’t really know about them this year. It does appear though, that they also often struggle to set up their offense.”

She said the Vandals have seen both Carlin and Owyhee when they participated in the Battle Mountain tournament over Labor Day weekend, but did not play them.