Lady Bobcats open 2A Northwest play this weekend

Conference volleyball play is here, and with that comes the battle for regional seeding, for the Hot Springs County Lady Bobcats they can establish early pole position with wins this weekend.

Playing 3A Lovell on Sept. 17 and hosting their annual volleyball invitational, the Western Wyoming Volleyball Challenge, on Sept. 20-22, the Lady 'Cats built some momentum heading into conference play.

The Lady 'Cats lost to 3A Lovell 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 26-24, 25-17) in Thermopolis.

Then, in the Western Wyoming Volleyball Challenge, the Lady 'Cats lost to 1A Riverside 2-0 (25-22, 25-18) and 1A Snake River 2-0 (25-17, 25-13) but beat Big Piney 2-1 (24-25, 25-9, 15-7), Kemmer 2-1 and Wind River 2-0.

"We beat the teams we needed to beat, which was good," said HSCHS Shannon Hill. "Against Big Piney and Kemmerer, we weren't quite ready to play those first games. But we rallied, and the second sets of both matches were good, and we won pretty handily in those third sets. That was a positive that they were able to bounce back after that first set and finish those matches."

The Lady 'Cats game against Wind River was the team's most complete match of the weekend. They avoided a slow start and, with strong serving, controlled the match from start to finish.

"Against Wind River, we led those sets, and Wind River did go on a little run in the second set, but we held on and served well. Our serving was pretty good for the weekend. There are some adjustments to make to our rotation as we go into conference play," said Hill.

Slow starts have hurt the Lady 'Cats in the early portion of the season. It's an area the team is working on to correct.

"We've talked multiple times about not allowing teams to go on more than a two-point run. Against Riverside, we were playing really well and were up by five points in the first set, but we gave up a run, and before you knew it, it was tied.

"Defensively, we need to crash harder for some balls and then take smart shots. Serving tough is another thing we need to work on. When we do those things, it will help us get rolling," said Hill.

Serving has been an area of strength for the Lady 'Cats. The team's top two servers, Kali Simmeral and Hanna Hill, can put teams in a bind when they're on a roll. Then, with Hanna Hill serving, the Lady 'Cats are in their best rotation with outside hitter Davdine King up front.

"Kali served Wind River tough. She had six aces in that match. I'm always very confident when Hanna steps back to serve because Dav is in the front row, I've got good passers in the back. That's something we need to capitalize on because we have multiple tough servers," said Hill.

After last week's games, defense was a heavy focus for the Lady 'Cats this week in practice. Correcting those fixable errors will better prepare the Lady 'Cats for their next three matches, all of which are 3A Northwest games.

Opening up conference play, the Lady 'Cats host Shoshoni on Friday at 6 p.m. and on Saturday go to Greybull for a 2 p.m. match.

Thermopolis is capable of winning the 2A Northwest, but they can't get ahead of themselves. Taking it one match at a time will be key.

"Defense is our biggest focus this week. I just want to see more of that see-ball, get-ball mindset. Then getting that consistency in the back row will be good, and hopefully, with some of the changes this week, we'll get that.

"We just need to keep a level head. We know we're a good team when we're on and playing well. But these teams aren't going to be gimmie games. Shoshoni has some good hitters and servers. We need to remember that we're good, but we're going to have to fight and play every point to win. I know they're rebuilding, but Greybull will be a good match for us. It'll be nice to start conference out 2-0," said Hill.