Lady Warriors clinch 3A Northwest No. 2-seed, open 3A West regional tournament vs. Pinedale

WORLAND - Saturday's 3-2 (25-15, 22-25, 23-25, 25-14, 15-5) victory over the Lander Lady Tigers in the regular season finale was a huge win for the Worland Lady Warriors volleyball team. Downing the Lady Tigers earned the Lady Warriors the No. 2-seed out of the 3A Northwest and open the 3A West regional tournament against the Pinedale Lady Wranglers, in Mountain View on Friday.

"We had to contain Lander's outside hitters with our serving and get them out of system, and we served very well," said WHS volleyball coach Brittany Miller when talking about the keys to Saturday's win.

Senior setter Alexa Caballero was injured during the Lander match in Game 3. Ashley Schriber filled in for the senior and kept the Lady Warriors offense rolling along.

"Kudos to Ashley because she went in and stepped up and did a really nice job. Hopefully, Alexa will be good to go for this weekend," said Miller.

The Lady Warriors have faced Pinedale twice this season, losing both matches. The preseason tournament in Riverton was when they first met with the Lady Wranglers winning 2-0 (21-18, 21-17). Then three weeks ago for the 3A West conference duals meet in Lander, Pinedale won again 3-2 (25-12, 24-26, 25-17, 17-25,16-14).

But it was after that second loss to Pinedale when Miller shuffled her rotation, which has since given the Lady Warriors a sharper offensive attack.

"We're 0-2 against them. The first time we played them we were a brand new varsity team and the second time we played them, we changed our lineup for the first time against them. We were out of sorts and Darla [Hernandez] got hurt that match.

"Our girls, I feel, feel as if we're playing a lot better volleyball. Pinedale has one hitter to shut down vs. Lander's two. So they are talking very positive but it won't be easy because Pinedale has a winning record this year. It's going to be tough but we like our matchup," said Miller.

On the same side of the bracket as the Lady Warriors are Lovell and 3A's No. 1-ranked, undefeated Lyman Lady Eagles. Two wins are all it takes for a team to punch their ticket to the 3A State tournament in Casper next weekend. But looking at how tough the 3A West is, there are no easy paths to those two wins.

Provided that Worland gets by Pinedale first, Lyman will likely be waiting in the semifinals with the first state tournament berth up for grabs.

"Either side of the bracket, it would all turn out the same," said Miller. "Lyman is undefeated but they are beatable. Cokeville and Mountain View have both taken a game off of them. If you can just get a few digs and blocks on them, it could change the game."

Added Miller about Lyman, "All week we're going to focus on Pinedale and if we win that game we'll focus on Lyman. The target is going to be on Lyman's back all tournament, we just need to go out there and have fun because we'll have nothing to lose at that point but they'll have everything to lose at that point. And when we're having fun we play much better volleyball."

It's no surprise that the 3A West is the tougher conference in 3A. Only two teams, Lovell and Big Piney, have losing records, while the other six teams have at least 15 wins, two of which are over the 20 win mark. Lyman is 30-0 and Mountain View 20-8.

The level of competition in Mountain View this weekend is going to be fierce. Four teams are moving on to state after this weekend and with six teams in contention, two good teams will be on the outside looking in. Not wanting to be one of those two teams, Miller has made sure to raise the intensity for this week's practice.

"I've been telling them not going to state isn't an option so you better win it in practice this week," said Miller. "That's why practice is so important this week. You can't take a night off because every repetition matters. If you look at the [West] everyone but two teams has a winning record, over 15 wins, but on the [East] only two teams have a winning record. So we cannot be complacent."

The Lady Warrior seniors have seen the odds stacked against them before. Just before the start of regionals last season, Worland wasn't expected to make it to state, but they played their best volleyball of the season over that two-day stretch. And not only did they make it to state, they took third in the 3A East tournament.

"For the seniors, it's about their actions on the court. When it got tough against Lander Payton McEndree came through with huge blocks. It's a senior class that leads through their actions on the court, which is what this team needed," said Miller.

The Lady Warriors match against Lady Wranglers begins at 11:30 a.m. on Friday.