The score was tied 22-22 between Dayton and the underdog Vikings when the whistle blew indicating a South Tahoe foot fault.

Head coach Dan McLaughlin erupted. The line official had indicated no foot fault, and this was a key moment for South Tahoe. The Vikings were trailing one game and they would need this win to have a chance at the match. Dayton was not a team they wanted to fall two games behind against.

But the ruling held, and Dayton was awarded a sideout and eventually the win.

South Tahoe didn’t catch many breaks in its 0-3 loss to Dayton at home on Tuesday. The Vikings made a run in the second game, but the penalty cut their momentum and cost them a 25-23 loss. They dropped both the first and last game 25-16.

“We just didn’t play little ball,” McLaughlin said. “I didn’t do a good enough job preparing the team to play Dayton.”

Preparing for Dayton is no small task. The club-loaded Dust Devils have some heavy hitters like Madi Foley, who racked up 14 kills and three aces, and setter Peach Coons with five aces and 21 assists. Dayton was powerful and South Tahoe was losing points on returns.

“Dayton’s extremely good, but we have to be able to beat them and we can when we play our game correctly,” McLaughlin said. “When we did what we were supposed to do, we could do it, but I have not yet prepared this team well enough to be able to play every point as hard as it needs to be played.”

The Vikings showed flashes of greatness in the second game, surging back repeatedly to tie the game. But Dayton never took a play off.

At the end of the night, Kaila Griffis led the Vikings with seven kills, 13 digs and one ace. Jade Child added two kills, nine digs and one ace.

The Vikings split their games against Elko and Spring Creek this past weekend. The girls lost to Elko in three games on Friday, and beat Spring Creek in three games on Saturday.

UP NEXT: The Vikings will host Sparks on Friday at 6 p.m. and Fallon on Saturday at 1 p.m. at South Tahoe High School.