Lady Bobcats open 3A East tournament with 3-0 loss to Douglas

NEWCASTLE - Starting the 3A East volleyball regional tournament with a loss is not ideal but there is a silver lining for the Hot Springs County Lady Bobcats

The Lady Bobcats were downed by the No. 1 East-seed Douglas Lady Bearcats 3-0, (25-14, 25-18, 25-18) Friday afternoon at Newcastle High School, but in the defeat showed improvement. Last week they were rolled by the Lady Bearcats and Friday showed much more fight.

"We played fairly well and were scrappier than last week. It was nice to see. Even though it was a loss the girls knew they played better, they felt better about how they played and that gives us confidence going into our match against Wheatland," said HSCHS volleyball coach Shannon Hill.

The Lady 'Cats improvement was due to their scrappiness and stronger defensive play. With those positive signs from her team, Hill believes it can provide a boost for the remainder of the tournament.

"We were scrappier and moving a lot more on defense. We could have run our offense faster and early on in the match it took us a minute to get going, but once we started you could feel the intensity and it was fun to watch. There were long rallies and things like that and I was really proud of the girls for stepping up and being confident against a team like Douglas," said Hill.

The Wheatland Lady Bulldogs will be the Lady 'Cats' next opponent in a loser-out match today. On Sept. 22 Thermopolis defeated Wheatland 3-1 (18-25, 25-18, 25-16, 26-24) but that was over a month ago, and Hill has stressed to her team that they cannot take the Lady Bulldogs lightly.

"[Wheatland] has improved a ton and watching them against Buffalo they hung with them, so we can't overlook them. We need to be on our toes and can't be complacent, but we still need to be confident and go strong at the net," said Hill.

The match between the Lady 'Cats and Lady Bulldogs will begin at 10:45 a.m.