Bulldog Bernice Fiso digs a Pirate serve during the Bulldogs 3-1 loss Thursday night in the Dawg House.

Bulldog Bernice Fiso digs a Pirate serve during the Bulldogs 3-1 loss Thursday night in the Dawg House.

The Virgin Valley High School volleyball team was hoping to avenge an early season 3-0 shutout by the Moapa Valley Pirates Thursday night in the Dawg House but fell short 3-1 to their rival Pirates. The Bulldogs had no answer for the Pirates front line of JaLea Blasingame and Eden Whitmore who made huge kills time after time to keep the Dawgs at bay. The first two games were a Dawg fight as the Pirates won the first set 25-20 and the Dawgs retaliated winning the second set 25-14. The next two sets were all Pirates as they won 25-19 and 25-15. The Dawgs fell behind early in the third set 20-11 as they Pirates were dominating the net. The Lady Dawgs rallied to close the gap to 21-17. A quick timeout by the Pirates setup their final run as Moapa Valley won easily 25-19. The last set was complete domination as the Pirates Whitmore had 4 kills in the first five points giving the Moapa Valley squad an early 8-1 advantage. It was clear sailing for the Pirates as they clinched the 3A Sunrise League title. Leading the way for the Bulldogs in the match, were Emma Barnum with 9 kills and Calee Clem with 21 assists. The Bulldogs record fell to 5-3 good enough for third place in 3A Sunrise League standing with two games remaining. The Dawgs trail Boulder City by one game and are likely to stay in that position going into the playoffs unless the Eagles falter badly.