Lady Warriors down Lander 3-1

WORLAND - With a loud and energetic home crowd supporting them the Worland Lady Warriors knocked off the Lander Lady Tigers 3-1 (25-23, 25-11, 23-25, 25-21) during homecoming week Thursday night at Worland High School.

WHS volleyball coach Brittany Miller has been preaching to her team about energy and aggressiveness all season long. And Thursday night the Lady Warriors took the message to heart and were energetic aggressors all match long.

"We've been looking to find that energy and we found that tonight. A lot of credit to our crowd, they were energetic and that really carried on to the court. We were also aggressive tonight, we've been needing that and it was good to see," said Miller.

"We took a step forward and we needed that. I told them we have to keep this up even when we don't have the energy from our crowd. We always need to play with that intensity and enthusiasm," she added.

The Lady Warriors balance was on display all night long as different players took over different points during the game. Sophomores Darla Hernandez and Denali Jones dominated in stretches, seniors Caitlin Cottrell and Alex Caballero took over the game in crucial spots and junior Talon Andersen used pinpoint precision on her kills.

"She's getting timing with her setter which is really great to see. We've been practicing that timing, but to see that actually done in a match for the first time is huge," said Miller about Andersen.

Setter Kate Wassum also impressed Miller with her play Thursday. Wassum read the Lander defense and exploited them by getting the ball to her hitters in favorable positions.

"Kate Wassum improved a lot tonight [Thursday] by reading the mismatch and getting it to the hitters at the right time. We've been practicing and talking to her and she did it. I'm really impressed when we improve in the setting position our hitters were better. I'm so very proud of Kate Wassum," said Miller.

While the Lady Warriors took a step forward in their play, there a few miscues that came up during Games 3 and 4. Specifically, in Game 4 the Lady Warriors missed six serves.

Ultimately, the Lady Warriors went on to win Game 4 but the margin of their victory could have been larger if not for those missed serves.

"Six missed serves," said Miller when asked about the mistakes in Games 3 and 4. "You can't do anything when you have six missed serves. That was the only game where we allowed the service errors, but we just can't let that happen against teams like Powell."

Another key to the Lady Warriors victory was limiting the impact of Lander's two best players Abby Renner and Demi Stauffenberg. Renner, Lander's best player, got loose a handful of times as you'd expect from a great player, but Stauffenberg, the Lady Warriors were able to keep quiet all match long.

"She's a great player and she found ways to get us at times," said Miller about Renner. "We did an excellent job against her [Stauffenberg] by putting pressure on her in serve receive."

Tomorrow the Lady Warriors head to Rawlins to take on the No. 2-ranked Lady Outlaws at noon. Rawlins swept Worland last season but Miller challenged her team to pull off the upset.

"They're strong, they're solid, the match is going to be on their home court and I told our girls why not pull an upset," said Miller.