DOWN GO THE CHAMPS

By Sisco Molina

Sports Editor

WORLAND – Look out 3A volleyball world, Worland is coming.

The No. 3 Lady Warriors put the rest of the state on alert as they took down the defending 3A state champion, No. 2 Douglas at home in five games 22-25, 18-25, 25-17, 25-20 and 15-12.

And with the win, a long drought against Douglas is suddenly over.

"This was a huge win for our program. I don't know when the last time was that we beat Douglas," Miller said after the win Friday.

After dropping the first two games, things weren't going too well for the Lady Warriors as they were on the verge of being swept in the first match in front of their home crowd.

To make matters worse, junior Bailey Gibbons went down in the third game with an ankle injury after coming down on another teammate's foot. A timetable for her return has not been set, but she will miss today's match against Newcastle.

But the Lady Warriors fought through it all, taking the next two to force a final and deciding fifth game.

In the fifth game, the Lady Warriors rattled off seven straight points to take an early 7-0 advantage. But Douglas quickly fought back, scoring four quick points before an Anna Lopez kill made it 8-4.

Worland led again late 11-5, but Douglas rallied back to tie things at 11-all.

Finally Worland faced match point leading 14-12 and an errant serve by Douglas gave them the win.

"It shows a lot about this team's character that they never stopped trying and never stopped executing the game plan. Both teams have errors and the team that responds and reacts the best wins and I felt we responded and reacted well to our errors," Miller said of her team's ability to fight back from an 0-2 deficit.

The difference in the fifth game was the serving of senior Bryanna Mickelson as Douglas had trouble receiving her serves and Worland raced out to the 7-0 lead early.

"Volleyball is all about momentum and as our momentum picked up, the energy and the crowd picked us up and we just kept killing it. It was amazing," Mickelson said after the win.

It was an important not only from a confidence standpoint, but it also gives Worland an early edge in the 3A Northeast having a win against its most likely challenger for the top spot in the quadrant.

But the other two teams – Buffalo and Newcastle – are no slouches either.

The Lady Warriors will be on the road today at Newcastle, a team they beat 2-1 in a best-of-three format last weekend in Rawlins.

And they will be without the services of Gibbons – one of their top hitters and defenders.

No timetable has set for her return, but she was immediately ruled out for the Newcastle match after the win Friday.

"We won't have Bailey, but we want her to get healthy first. Still this win gives us huge momentum. Our goal now is to go 2-0 this weekend," Miller said Friday.

Worland and Newcastle will face off today at 3 p.m.