Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Lady Warrior Saige Jones puts some heat on the ball as she sends it over the net during Thursday's match against Rawlins at Worland High School.
WORLAND - Taking down the best team in the state leaves little room for error and for the Worland High School volleyball team, Thursday night had too many errors for them to pull off the upset.
The Lady Warriors (1-3 3A East-West division, 14-7 overall) hosted 3A East –West division foe the No. 1-ranked Rawlins Lady Outlaws (4-0 3A East-West division, 20-6 overall) at Worland High School and fell 3-0, (25-13, 25-19, 25-21).
Going into the match the Lady Warriors knew if they were going to take down the Lady Outlaws, whose six losses this season have all come by 4A opponents, they would have to execute on the details. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
"We missed a lot of details tonight. Rawlins is a solid team and you have to give them credit. Douglas is the No. 2 team in the state and dropped 3-0 to them a week ago. They served us really tough and we were really out of system. But we also practiced out of system and we fell short on some details that we practiced all week. I felt that was the most discouraging part," said WHS volleyball coach Brittany Miller.
In the early goings of each game Worland played with Rawlins, but as they marched closer to 25, the Lady Outlaws would, frustratingly, pull away from the Lady Warriors.
In Game 2, Worland trailed 10-5. After a timeout by Miller the team made a 6-4 run to make it to 14-11, a handful of plays later Saige Jones made back-to-back kills that brought them within one at 17-16. The two teams traded points with Worland never quite able to breakthrough and take the lead. After an Alexa Caballero kill to bring the Lady Warriors within one again at 19-18, Rawlins took control going on a 6-1 run to close out the game.
That was how most the night went for the Lady Warriors they would pull within striking distance, but Rawlins big hitters would get rolling and string together spurts of three to four points at a time.
"You have to stick to your assignment if you're going to stop these hitters. We have a lot of depth so if you're having an off-night maybe someone can help you out. And that's OK because we do have a lot of ability and depth with our blocking and big jumps. But sticking to details, being coachable and making adjustments right away will be the key," said Miller when talking about how to contain big hitters like that of Rawlins.
Rawlins also targeted certain players to get the Lady Warriors out of system and cause chaos. Miller acknowledged it is hard for those players and suggested using her reserves to counter those moves by opposing teams.
Miller also stressed to her team after the loss that they still need to commit to getting better and need to be the best team they can be by the end of October when the regional and state tournaments roll around.
"It's hard and those players have to be on and be ready to take some of the heat off. We play as a pretty tight-knit group and we have some depth. So I told them if we're having an off night it's not a bad thing. Someone might help you out and it might result in some points. We talked about when we're struggling we can tap into that depth.
"The message after the game was, it's where we are at the end of October that matters and when we leave this locker room we need to improve. Everything we fell short on tonight, I feel like it was something we can get better at. It matters in October so we leave the locker room with each other, for each other. And at the end of October we can get this team," said Miller.
The Lady Warriors will get a day off before having to face the Torrington Lady Trailblazers Saturday at Worland High School.
After a slow start to their season Torrington (2-1 3A East-East, 7-9 overall) has picked up steam with a big win against Buffalo on Sept. 29.
"They've had some incredible wins lately. They have their stud back this year, last year she was out with an ACL injury. It's going to be tough. It's 'Pink Night' and we're playing with purpose with that. It's going to be an important match with seeding, so we have got to be ready," said Miller.
The Lady Warriors match vs. the Lady Trailblazers will begin at 3 p.m.; the match will also be a Pink Out in honor of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
