98°F
weather icon Clear

Focus, determination guide Lady Eagles

Boulder City High School girls volleyball team has remained focused on the task at hand, one game at a time, even as it dominated league play throughout the season.

Entering this week of play with a state-best 32-5 record, the Lady Eagles have been perfect as of late, rattling off 16 consecutive shutout victories, including a pair of 3-0 wins against rival Virgin Valley on Friday, Oct. 11, and Sunrise Mountain on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

Skill and confidence aside, determination remains the Lady Eagles’ key ingredient to victory, according to their coach.

“The girls know that they’re a very talented team,” head coach Kurt Bailey said. “As the sport of volleyball has evolved with the club scene over the years, our girls have, too, and that’s played a key role in our success. With how deep we are, we’d like to think that the best competition that we play is against ourselves in practice. It’s there that we see how special this group really is.

“We’ve had a lot of success this season, but the girls are hungry and determined not to slip up,” he said. “They all hold each other accountable for playing at their best, not only in games, but in practice. We have girls diving for loose ball in drills. They’re competitive and strive to be great. Winning a bunch of games has been nice for us, but this group has goals both as a team and individually that still need to be accomplished and that’s what’s driving us.”

Putting their skills on full display, Boulder City defeated Sunrise Mountain 25-9, 25-9, 25-6 and Virgin Valley 25-8, 25-8, 25-4.

Against Sunrise Mountain, junior Kamry Bailey led the way with 10 kills and five serving aces. Senior Raegan Herr added five kills and three digs and senior Ava Wright dished out 32 assists.

Against Virgin Valley, Kamry Bailey and sophomore Kate Prior each generated eight kills, while Herr added six kills. Wright dished out 21 assists and sophomore Zoey Robinson made 15 digs defensively.

While beating Sunrise Mountain and Virgin Valley might provide excitement for the Lady Eagles, this group has bigger goals that fuel them on a nightly basis: repeating as 3A Sunrise League champions and then successfully defending their two consecutive 3A state championships. En route to both of those goals, the team has surpassed last season’s win total of 38 victories.

“Every match is important to us because we set a goal to be undefeated in league play this year,” Kamry Bailey said. “We’re motivated to beat our win record; it’s actually one of our biggest team goals for this year. Forty sounds pretty good. We keep our focus by setting team goals rather than just focusing on winning.”

Focused and determined to reach the heights of success they’ve put in front of them, very few have been able to knock the Lady Eagles off their mountain top this season.

Collecting 32 wins this season, 11 have been against Nevada 4A opponents and four have come against out-of-state opponents. In 3A play, Boulder City has won 18 consecutive matches, with its last loss Oct. 23, 2018.

With a target on their back every time they step out onto the court, the Lady Eagles come ready to answer all challengers.

“We take every game seriously and play to our best abilities no matter what the competition looks like,” Wright said. “We knew from the start of the season that we would have a target on our backs because of our previous record. As long as we play our game and don’t underestimate our competition, I’m confident in our team and our skills no matter how much pressure is on us.”

The Lady Eagles will travel to SLAM Academy tonight, Oct. 17, before hosting rival Moapa Valley on Wednesday, Oct. 23.

Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.

MOST READ
THE LATEST
Awards continue for volleyball team

Continuing their claim as the most accomplished high school boys volleyball program in the 3A classification this decade, Boulder City High School had four players named to the All-State team.

Robinson named to 1st team All-State

Four Eagles were named to the 3A All-State team after helping Boulder City High School baseball reach the 3A state tournament.

Rogers named league player of the year

Leading Boulder City High School softball to the 3A state tournament, eight Eagles were named to the All-Mountain League team, highlighted by player of the year Payton Rogers.

Eight swimmers lead awards for girls

Boulder City High School girls swimming finished fourth at the 3A state meet, and for their efforts, eight Eagles were named to the All-Southern Region team.

Swimmers dominate All-Southern Region team

Helping Boulder City High School boys swimming capture their third consecutive 3A state championship, 12 Eagles were named to the 3A All-Southern Region team.

A look at swim team’s state success

Continuing their tradition of being the gold standard of boys high school swimming in the 3A classification, Boulder City added on to its prestigious pedigree on May 17, successfully capturing their third consecutive state championship.

Youth movement helps lead Eagles

Helping Boulder City High School baseball reach the 3A state tournament, five Eagles were named to the 3A All-Southern Nevada team, while 10 Eagles total were named to the All-Mountain League team.

Zwahlen named 3A Mountain League player of the year

Among six Boulder City High School boys volleyball players to make the All-Mountain League team, David Zwahlen was named 3A Mountain League player of the year.