Lady Warriors drop tough match against Lady Bison 3-1

BUFFALO - The struggles continue for the Worland High School volleyball team, this time on the road against rival Buffalo High School.

The Lady Warriors dropped a tightly contested match to the Lady Bison Thursday night, falling 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 27-25). Worland fought all match but could not find a way over the hump.

Starting the match the Lady Warriors came out strong, building a commanding lead at 19-8, forcing the Lady Bison into calling a timeout. However, out of the timeout, Buffalo proceeded to go on a 17-2 run to stun Worland and go up 1-0 in the match.

"We were lacking communication and just effort. I told them in the past we've relied on others to be spark plugs and the last two years we had other people whose enthusiasm just overflowed and was contagious for everyone. This year we haven't found that player and we have to really look deep within and find that enthusiasm. It's contagious and brings the fire for everyone else to get through matches like that," said WHS volleyball coach Brittany Miller.

While the Lady Warriors would take Game 2, the other two games were frustrating as they would fight back to tie or take the lead, only to have Buffalo regain their composure and finish them off.

"Volleyball is such a momentum game and it went back and forth all night long. Buffalo was able to close it out and we weren't. It comes back to that enthusiasm and that spark," said Miller.

The loss Thursday night locks the Lady Warriors into the No. 3-seed out of the West for the 3A Regional tournament, a disappointment, but Miller laid out the likely opponents that her team will face on Oct. 27-28, which showed their path to the 3A State tournament is still alive.

"We talked about that in the locker room and I already drew that up for them. We talked about going the distance and a lot of teams could be done after a loss like that and let it define their season. I showed them what the bracket will look like and their eyes lit up. Going to state is very realistic, so let's go the distance, which is our theme. Our seniors said 'we leave here together' but I think for them seeing that bracket and who they might play has lit a fire in them," said Miller.

Worland's next match will be their final home match of 2017 on Tuesday at 6 p.m., senior night, against No. 5-ranked Cody, but in the meantime, the team will be back in practice as they continue to iron out their offense.

"We're going to get right back in it, the only way to get better is to get in the gym," said Miller.