McQueen, a perennial High Desert League favorite, wasn’t about to let that happen. The northwest Reno school swept away Spanish Springs 25-13, 25-17 and 25-23.
“We are gearing toward the playoffs and trying some new things,” McQueen coach Jeff Zimmerman said. “It was good to see them work against Spanish Springs. They’re a good team. This was a good test for us as we get ready for the playoffs.”
McQueen had already locked up the High Desert League’s second seed into next week’s Northern 4A tournament.
The Lancers made winning look easy in Game 1 Tuesday. After trailing 3-2 just minutes into the match, McQueen reeled off six straight points and never trailed again in the opening game. Spanish Springs got as close as six points, 16-10, later in the initial game, but McQueen responded with another spurt of six straight points en route to the 12-point winning margin.
“We just haven’t practiced very well and we were a little out of sync,” Spanish Springs coach Frank Sandomenico said. “Plus, McQueen’s good. They are well coached and have good tradition. When you add all that up, we came out on the short end of it.”
Game 2 was a little different. Spanish Springs led 6-4 early on after back-to-back blocks by Ashley Collier and Ashley Kaiser. The Cougars still led 9-8 following a McQueen serving error. That was the local club’s last lead of the game. The visiting Lancers put together a 10-4 run to take control of the game.
Spanish Springs had a little fight left in Game 2. A Lindsay Parton ace got the Cougars within three, 19-16. Unfortunately for SSHS fans, McQueen scored six of the next seven points to close out the second game.
Spanish Springs gave McQueen all it could handle in Game 3. The hosts grabbed a 12-8 advantage after a Nicole Snyder kill. However, the Cougars went cold for a spell. An 11-2 McQueen outburst gave the Lancers a 19-14 lead.
Still, Spanish Springs was not finished. The Cougars answered with a 9-3 onslaught of their own to grab a 23-22 lead after a Callie Aberle kill. McQueen tightened up from there, posting the final three points to clinch the match victory.
“We played well late in matches against Reno and McQueen the first time,” Sandomenico said. “I feel like it takes us a while to see we can play with good teams.”
Lindsey Ball had 8 kills and Channing Fleischmann pounded 6 kills to lead the McQueen offense. Kathryn Authier and Sam Sbriglia helped the McQueen cause as well, chipping in 27 assists and 20 digs respectively.
“We played pretty well at the net and our overall defense has been good all year,” Zimmerman said.
Danielle Beebe finished with 9 assists and 5 kills for Spanish Springs. Bryli Friberg added 6 kills in the Cougars’ losing effort.
Spanish Springs (22-14, 6-6) wraps up its regular season with a non-league match tonight at home against Wooster at 6 p.m.
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