In volleyball, Shields a target

James Yodice

Friday, April 11, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Nothing came easily Wednesday night for Clark County's boys' volleyball programs.

Of the eight winners in division openers, only one -- defending state champion Cheyenne -- managed to escape in three games. The rest were pushed hard, sometimes to the limit.

The Desert Shields are discovering what life at the top entails. Monday night, they were taken to five games by Chaparral after winning the first two, and Wednesday night Silverado (3-3) was just as pesky.

Cheyenne (6-1) won 15-13, 19-17, 17-15.

"Real tough," Cheyenne coach Karen Brown said with a sigh of relief. "Everybody's going to play us that tough."

Marlyn McNeal had nine kills and 24 digs for the Desert Shields, while Joe Feiner had a dozen blocks.

At Las Vegas, Chaparral (6-1) opened division play with a four-game win over Las Vegas (0-6). The Wildcats won the third game 16-14, but the Cowboys dominated the rest of the match. Chaparral won the first two games 15-5 and 15-6 and blanked Las Vegas 15-0 in the fourth game.

Loren Marshall registered 13 kills and Sam Miner nine for the Cowboys. Matt Hammons added 21 assists.

The best match of the night may have been at Rancho, where the Rams (7-7) were outlasted by Eldorado (3-4) in five long games. The scores were 15-13, 12-15, 15-13, 11-15 and 15-13.

Green Valley (7-0) remained undefeated with a four-game victory against Valley. The Gators won 15-7, 15-3, 6-15 and 15-1. The Vikings are 0-7.

At Cimarron-Memorial, the Spartans (6-1) turned away Bishop Gorman (3-3) in four games, 15-9, 8-15, 15-12, 15-11. Adam Siqueiros recorded 39 assists for Cimarron. The beneficiaries of his work were Charles Moser and Tyson Ward with 11 kills each.

Bonanza went to Durango and slipped past the Trailblazers in a Sunset Division opener. The Bengals (12-9) won 15-7, 2-15, 15-8, 14-16, 15-10. Durango fell to 4-3.

The Vo-Tech at Basic match was not reported.

Wednesday's track

Eldorado, Chaparral and Palo Verde won boys' meets Wednesday afternoon, while Mojave, The Meadows and Chaparral captured girls' competitions.

Mojave, which won't be joining the conference races until the spring of 1998, took a big step with its triangular victory over Eldorado and Rancho.

Nicole Ireland was the standout for the Rattlesnake, capturing the 100 meters, 200 meters and 100 high hurdles.

Chaparral's top middle-distance runner, Jessica Stimac, led the Cowboys to their win with victories in the 800 and 1,600. Natasha Cattledge won the three sprint events for Clark.

Chaparral's boys rode the strong efforts of its field competitors to a win against Clark and Bishop Gorman, and Palo Verde dominated the relays in a meet which also included The Meadows, Laughlin and Lincoln County.

Wednesday's swimming

Durango won dual meets against Eldorado in both boys' and girls' competitions, routing the Sundevils 212-71 and 152-88, respectively.

Boulder City defeated Clark, and Green Valley beat Silverado.