Eric Dahlberg Mineral County’s Taylor Isom and Alexceah Emm attempt a block at the net against Whittell Tuesday night. The Lady Serpents won the game 3-2.

Eric Dahlberg
Mineral County’s Taylor Isom and Alexceah Emm attempt a block at the net against Whittell Tuesday night. The Lady Serpents won the game 3-2.

The Mineral County High volleyball team stormed back late to come from behind and beat Whittell 3-2 Tuesday night in Hawthorne.

It was the Lady Serpents first win of the young season, and most importantly it came in their first conference game. Mineral County lost to Tonopah 3-2 in their season opener last week in a non-conference game.

The Lady Serpents found themselves down again against the Warriors Tuesday after losing the first match 25-16, but battled back to even the best of five series 25-21 in the second match. The teams went on to trade the next two matches to set up the deciding fifth game, which ended up being a thriller.

Down 13-10 in the first to 15 final, Mineral County coach Shelley Tweedy called a timeout to rally her team and talk strategy. Her girls would go on to score the next five points to take the match 15-13 and the game.

“We have a really good varsity group this year, I think we have a lot of potential,” said Tweedy.

The win against Whittell was very similar to the Mineral County’s loss to Tonopah, with the fifth match being the difference. The Lady Serpents were tied two matches a piece with the Muckers last Tuesday, before Tonopah pulled away late to win the final 15-12 and the game 3-2.

“We played really well, served really well, but just came up short,” Tweedy said of the loss to Tonopah.

Senior Jesslynn Knight led the Lady Serpents in assists against the Muckers, while Taylor McFalls and Kendall Williams led the way in kills. Tiera McFalls had the most points scored in serves, Hailey Lahre led in aces, and Tweedy said that Chantel Gorman came off the bench and was a great help.

The sky is the limit for the veteran Mineral County team who returned 10 players to the floor this year, eight being seniors.

“Their experience on the court should be huge for us,” Tweedy said of her seniors. “We also have a lot more depth off the bench that last years team. It should be a fun year.”

The Lady Serpents will be home for their next three games when they take on Excel Christian Friday at 4 p.m., Sage Ridge Saturday at 12 p.m. and Coleville on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Junior Varsity

The Mineral County JV volleyball team came home a winner last Tuesday when they traveled to Tonopah and picked up a 2-1 win.

The Lady Serpents won the first match 25-21, fell 25-19 in the second and edged the Muckers 15-13 in the third match, to pick up the win in the best of three series.

Raynee Knight and Abby McNamara were Tweedy’s standout players of the game.

Mineral County would go on to lose to Whittell Tuesday afternoon in Hawthorne to even its overall season record to 1-1.