Bishop Gorman, Faith Lutheran set for rematch in 5A girls volleyball state final

RENO — Bishop Gorman moved within one win of becoming the first girls volleyball program to win four consecutive state championships in Nevada’s largest classification, defeating Bishop Manogue in four sets Thursday evening at UNR’s Virginia Street Gym.

The Gaels defeated Bishop Manogue 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 25-17 to reach Friday’s 5A state championship match at 1 p.m. The Gaels will face Faith Lutheran, which defeated Carson 25-20, 25-15, 25-23.

Leading 10-8 in the fourth set with the finish line in sight, the Gaels reeled off a 10-0 run to make it 20-8. A 7-2 Manogue run to get within 22-17 only seemed to build the anticipation, and the Gaels players erupted when senior Aliana Breitling drove a spike into the block of a pair of Manogue defenders that caromed out-of-bounds for match point.

“What I really think it was, was just reminding them of all the work that they put in, the preparation that they did, the game plan that they had for that match, and just reminding them that they had it in them,” Gorman coach Gregg Nunley said. “Sometimes it just goes back to the basics: serving and passing. And so just reminding them of the basics and our game plan—stick to the game plan and things will go well.”

Before then, the only time in the entire match that either team led by more than five points was the final point of the first set.

Gorman had beaten Manogue 2-0 in a tournament earlier in the season, but backed by a raucous crowd, the Gaels had to weather a completely different environment.

“It was a lot more intense, I’ll tell you that,” Nunley said. “Their fans were great for them. I think that they’ve got a lot of fuel from their fans. And I think that was the biggest difference between playing them in the tournament and playing them here.”

While his team is on the precipice of a historic four-peat, Nunley believes his team could have hit the milestone sooner had the 2020 season not been taken away by the pandemic.

“You know, I feel like they had a shot at it earlier, back when we won 2018, we won 2019, we won 2021,” Nunley said. “COVID is right there in the middle. I feel like if we would have played the season, we might have had it there. But no, I think that being in the same position is a testament to how much work these kids put in.”

Faith Lutheran sweeps Carson

Faith Lutheran rallied from an 18-11 deficit in the third set and scored the last five points of the match to sweep Carson 25-20, 25-15, 25-23.

“I think the biggest thing we told them was you’ve just got to stay in the moment, and just start working on siding out,” Faith Lutheran coach Amy Fisher said. “I’ve got to give credit to Carson. Those kids dug everything in the third set, and we hung tough and kept giving it back to them.”

The Crusaders will take aim at their first state championship since moving up to the state’s largest classification, and Fisher said the win over Bishop Gorman in the regional final last week proves they are capable.

“The biggest thing is, before that match last Saturday, we believed we could beat them, but now we know we can beat them,” Fisher said.

Abby Bunyan led the Crusaders with 15 kills, while Chloe Garcia and Tori Castro had eight each.