Both LMS teams reach championship games in Yellowstone Conference tournaments

To obtain their tournament seedings, Lovell Middle School volleyball teams played against Lander and Riverton in a competition on October 4.

Seventh-grade teams played in Cody. The LMS B team lost to Riverton in the first set, 13-25. The Bulldogs beat the Spartans 25-21 in the second set but fell to Riverton in the third set, 9-15. When the A team played Riverton, they had similar luck, losing the first set 22-25, winning the second set 25-21 and falling to the Spartans 10-15 in the third set.

When playing against Lander, the B team lost the first set 9-25. The Bulldogs came back to win the second set with the same score of 25-9. In the end, Lander won the third set 11-15. The A team lost to the Tigers in the first set with a tight game of 25-27. Lovell won the last two sets 25-12 and 15-9.

The eighth grade hosted their quad in Lovell. The B team began by beating Riverton in two sets, 25-23, 25-23. The A team also beat Riverton in two sets, 25-23, 26-24. The games against Lander went similarly, with the B team winning in two sets, 25-21 and 25-19, and A team doing the same, overcoming the Tigers 25-21, 25-19.

Conference tournaments

This past Saturday, October 11, Lovell Middle School was able to compete in different tournaments for the A and B teams as their end-of-season competition. The A teams participated in the Yellowstone Conference Tournament, and the B teams competed in a jamboree.

The eighth grade A team played in the Yellowstone Conference Tournament in Powell and first took on Cody. They went on to beat the Fillies 25-20 in both sets. The win advanced the team to the next level of the tournament, which was the championship game against Lander. Lovell was able to win the first set 26-24, and another close set followed, which ended in a win for Lander with a score of 22-25. In the end, the Bulldogs won the final set 15-10, earning them the title of conference champions.

“Our conference this year was extremely talented, and it was a hard-earned title,” Anderson explained. “We were able to come out victorious through our strong net play and aggressive offense that allowed us to keep teams out of system and kept us in control of the game. It made me so proud to see these girls learn to fight through the struggles and play with heart and grit.”

The seventh-grade teams traveled to Lander for their tournaments. The B team went up against Worland for their first match of the jamboree. Lovell won the first set 25-19 but fell to the Warriors in the last two sets, 10-25 and 7-15. The Bulldogs played Riverton next, winning the first set 25-22. Riverton fought back, beating Lovell in second set 23-25. In the third set, Lovell ended with the victory by beating the Spartans 15-9. For the last game of their season, the Bulldogs played Lander. A tight first set ended in a 26-24 win for Lovell, but Lander went on to win the second set 22-25. In the third set, the Bulldogs ultimately prevailed with a score of 15-12.

The A team for the seventh graders had intense matches throughout the day. Lovell started out playing the Lander A team and fell to the Tigers in the first set 13-25. Lovell pushed to win the next two sets, beating Lander 25-19 and 15-8. The next round game was against Riverton, and Lovell won the first set, 25-22. The Spartans beat the Bulldogs in the second set, 23-25, but Lovell came back to win the third set 15-9, securing their place in the championship game against Powell. In the title game, Powell won the high scoring first set 25-27. Lovell fought back with a win in the second set, beating the Panthers 25-20. After a lot of back and forth, the Bulldogs ultimately fell to the Panthers in the third set, 14-16.

“Every girl did their job, and we were right there,” seventh grade coach Marci Durtsche said. “We were outsized, but my girls were not intimidated. We played with a lot of heart and did not give up. I was really really proud of them.”

Eighth grade teams were able to compete in their tournaments in Cody and Powell. The B team began their jamboree in Cody by going up against Worland. The Bulldogs fell to the Warriors in two sets, 17-25 and 23-25. Their next match was against Lander. Lovell lost the first set 24-26 but went on to win the match by winning the last two sets 25-13 and 15-10. The last game for the B team players in the Jamboree was against Riverton. The Bulldogs fell to the Spartans in the first set, 13-25 but fought to win the second set 25-13. In the last set, Riverton pulled ahead and overcame the Bulldogs, beating them 11-15. 

“These girls have seen incredible growth throughout this season,” said eighth grade coach Tiffany Anderson. “They rose to every challenge that came their way.”