Gorman, Faith Lutheran head to Reno to battle for 5A volleyball title

The first set of Saturday’s Class 5A girls volleyball Southern Region championship game was a “wake-up call” after Bishop Gorman’s girls volleyball team came out “flat,” as Gaels coach Gregg Nunley put it.

Gorman, the three-time defending 5A state champion, dropped the first set to Faith Lutheran 25-13. While the rest of the sets were tight, the Crusaders won the region title to hand Gorman its first defeat to a Nevada team since the 2022 state tournament.

But Nunley said the loss has led to a “fight” and “fire” in his team that he hasn’t seen this season as the Gaels get set to defend their title.

“We’re excited to play some competitive volleyball,” Nunley said as Gorman is making its 11th straight appearance in the state tournament in the top classification. “We’re excited to be pushed and to push back.

“We can’t just show up and expect to play our best. We have to fight to play our best.”

The 5A state tournament begins Thursday at UNR’s Virginia Street Gym. The state title game is at 1 p.m. Friday.

Gorman (31-7), the South’s No. 2 seed, plays Northern champion Bishop Manogue (25-13) at 5:20 p.m. Thursday in a state semifinal, and Southern Region champion Faith Lutheran (31-7) plays Carson (27-5), the North’s No. 2 seed, at 7 p.m.

‘Great amount of trust’

Faith Lutheran is making its first appearance in the state tournament since 2018 (4A). The Crusaders won three straight 3A titles from 2013-2015, but have never won a girls volleyball championship in the top classification.

“We believe that we’ve had teams in the past that could have competed for a state championship, but we just ran into some roadblocks the last few years,” said Faith Lutheran coach Amy Fisher, who has led the Crusaders since 2006. “This year, the team took care of business in conference to get the No. 1 seed and we still had to battle through regional to qualify for state, so it means a lot.”

Faith Lutheran entered the season as one of the top 5A teams with most of its core returning, a core that Fisher said has played together since middle school. Much of Faith Lutheran’s success has been highlighted by 6-foot-4 sophomore outside hitter Abby Bunyan, who is fourth in the state with 419 kills.

But Faith Lutheran’s offensive success stems from junior libero Ellee Ford (second in the state with 518 digs) and junior setter Olivia Kiel (612 assists). Ford surpassed 1,000 career digs and Kiel passed 1,000 career assists in the region title game. Bunyan’s presence has opened up other opportunities for outside hitters Tori Castro (311 kills), a senior, and junior Chloe Garcia (289 kills).

“There’s a great amount of trust that has been built between our setters, our libero and other players and they depend on them,” Fisher said.”They know they’re going to be where they need to be.

“When athletes can focus on what their job is and do their job and everybody else does their own, things can begin to jell and it has jelled for us this year because of that.”

‘Much more balanced’

Gorman got a look at Manogue in a tournament in September, where the Gaels recorded a two-set sweep victory. Nunley said that has helped the Gaels develop a plan to limit the Miners’ outside hitters, which includes 6-foot-5 junior Audrey Sutherland.

Gorman doesn’t have the big outside hitter like it did last year with current Pitt freshman Ayanna Watson. Instead, it has been more of a full-team effort for the Gaels this season. Senior Aliana Breitling leads Gorman with 316 kills and senior Ashiedu Nwuli leads the state with 123 blocks and is second in hitting percentage (.446).

“What we do have is a much more balanced team where we can start different people on different evenings and still have positive outcomes,” Nunley said. “That’s really refreshing. It also leads to more competitive practices and competition for playing time and it’s been a really positive thing.”

Playing in college venue

The 5A state tournament was originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday at a to-be-determined Northern site, but in the last few weeks was moved to Thursday and Friday when UNR’s Virginia Street Gym was picked as the venue.

Both Fisher and Nunley said it didn’t matter that the state tournament was moved up a day but instead were more excited about the opportunity for their teams to play in a college gym.

According to archived state volleyball results on the NIAA website going back to 2010, all volleyball state tournaments in each of the five classifications have been played at high schools except the 2023 3A state tournament and 1A state semifinals and finals, which were also at Virginia Street Gym.

“A state championship feels like a state championship, but it didn’t have that special quality to it because we’re playing at a high school,” Fisher said. “Now these young women get an opportunity to play in a college arena and to compete for a state championship, and it makes it that much more special.”

Said Nunley: “After years of coaches mentioning how great it would be if (the kids) had the opportunity to play at a venue that was a little more special than just a local high school gym, the NIAA has taken steps to make this tournament a special memory for the kids that participate.”

Contact Alex Wright at [email protected]. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.

Nevada high school girls volleyball state tournament schedule

Class 5A

At UNR's Virginia Street Gym

Thursday

State semifinals

No. 2S Bishop Gorman vs. No. 1N Bishop Manogue, 5:20 p.m.

No. 2N Carson vs. No. 1S Faith Lutheran, 7 p.m.

Friday

State championship

Gorman-Manogue winner vs. Carson-Faith Lutheran, 1 p.m.