Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
The Lady Warriors celebrate their win after picking up match-deciding point against Powell on Sept. 18 at WHS.
WORLAND - After an up and down start to the volleyball season, the Worland Lady Warriors went 2-0 last week as they picked up big wins against conference rivals.
The Lady Warriors (9-9) downed Lovell 3-2 (16-25, 13-25, 25-17, 25-17, 15-11) in Lovell on Sept. 16 and beat Powell 3-0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-22) on Sept. 18 at WHS. Both games were 3A Northwest matches, and the wins give the Lady Warriors an early leg up as the conference season kicks off.
"Our serving was on point, and [assistant coach, Kathryn] coach Stuckey knew ahead of time where she was going to go with the ball," said WHS volleyball coach Brittany Miller. "I'd listen to her call it out ahead of time, and the girls did it. Serving, hands down, put us in a better position to win that game."
In their matchups against Powell at the early season tournaments in Riverton and Rawlins, the Lady Panthers did not give up a set to the Lady Warriors.
But last weekend, Worland looked like a new team as they controlled the match from start to finish. Even when the Lady Warriors fell behind by nearly double digits early in the third set versus Powell. There was no panic as they went to work and fought their way back.
That set, and match, showed the resiliency of this group and how committed the Lady Warriors are to improving.
Ellianna Baumstarck also played a big role in the victory as she was tasked with shutting down Powell's Addy Thorington, something the sophomore did very well.
"We struggled with passing in Lovell, and on Friday, we went back to the basics, and I was really proud of how they stuck to that. We put Ellianna on Addy Thorington, and she did not like being matched up with Ellianna. That was fun to see Ellianna with that matchup," said Miller.
In years past, the Lady Warriors have had a height advantage and/or a dominating big hitter. While this year's team doesn't have those advantages, they're still talented enough as a team to find ways to win. It will be a total team effort where each player has to play their role.
"It's huge. We keep talking about how everyone's role is significant. You don't need to do more than that, but definitely don't do less than that. You have to rise to do the details in the job, which will only strengthen the team. We've talked a lot about that and the importance of everyone's role," said Miller.
Building off the two wins, Miller wants to start opening up her team's offense as they prepare for a game against Lander tonight at WHS at 6 p.m. They're in Casper battling a host of 4A teams at the Casper Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
"We need to keep developing our offense. We've spent so much time working on our serving and passing that we need to keep finding ways to open things up for us offensively. Time together is also another important part, and we've got a 4A tournament up next. Time together is what this team really needs, and we just have to keep building on that," said Miller.
