Boulder City volleyball relying on deep bench

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009 | 11:55 a.m.

Missing one player to illness and another with a minor injury, the Boulder City High girls volleyball team could have easily struggled on Sept. 4 against host Basic.

But the Eagles relied on its deep bench to collect a 17-25, 25-17, 25-14, 25-10 victory.

“We have been able to rotate a lot of girls in and out,” Boulder City coach Cherise Roe said. “That has been our strength. If something is not working, we can make a change and throw someone else in there. The girls have responded to that.”

Boulder City has wins against Legacy and SECTA in opening the season with a 3-0 record. It also went 3-3 in the Las Vegas Invitational, a preseason tournament consisting of a series of scrimmages.

Senior setter Paxton Fleming has averaged 22 to 25 assists per match, libero Kelsey Ripplinger is averaging 25 digs per match and senior hitter Lexi Jorgensen has added seven kills per match.

“It was nice to able to pull out that win (against Basic),” Roe said. “We still have some things we are going to change up.”

Golfers second in league match

The Boulder City High girls golf team fired a 314 on Sept. 4 during a 3A Southern League match at Pahrump’s Mountain Falls Golf Club to place second in the four-team event.

Virgin Valley won the match with a 287 while Boulder City and Pahrump tied for second at 314. Moapa Valley only had two golfers and didn’t register a team score.

Bridget Ward’s 95 led the Eagles, while Brianna Morang followed with a 97 and Lizz Ropp had a 109.

“There is a lot of room for improvement,” Boulder City coach Regina Quintero said. “We aren’t our best right now. We need to get serious and put in some quality time.”

Boulder City, the defending 3A state champions, is expected to contend with Virgin Valley for 3A Southern League supremacy. The Eagles were missing Indiana Mead, one of their top golfers who regularly scores in the low 90s, and had to count a 118 as their final score. The roughly 30-stroke difference would have put Boulder City and Virgin Valley virtually even.

“We have a lot of work to do to close the gap,” Quintero said.

Lundgren third in Foothill meet

The Boulder City High boys cross country team took fourth on Sept. 1 in a four-team meet against 4A schools at Foothill.

Green Valley High won the meet with 24 points, Foothill was second with 46 points, Liberty third at 84 and Boulder City fourth with 88.

But Boulder City senior Matt Lundgren, the defending 3A state champion, held his own in placing third on the 2.5 mile course in 13 minutes, 39 seconds — 12 seconds behind first place Matt Campa-Moreno of Green Valley.

Lundgren, Daniel Edmondson and Taylor Clifford each placed in the top 15 at state last year and will anchor the 10-member Boulder City boys team. Clifford hasn’t raced this season with a foot injury, but is expected back in the upcoming weeks.

“We are going to rely on those guys to provide some leadership,” Boulder City coach Joe Ringen said.

Lue Tobler is the lone returner on the girls team, a squad with just five runners.

“The girls need to just get familiar with the mileage,” Ringen said. “They are just learning what the distances are and how to train for it.”

Both the Eagles boys and girls teams will race Sept. 12 at Veterans Memorial Park in the Las Vegas Invitational. The race is one of the largest events of the season and is divided into multiple races.

Lundgren will race in the event’s top classification, competing against runners from large-school classification teams.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or ray.brewer@lasvegassun.com.