Lady Grizz capture first conference win in Thermopolis

Rocky Mountain rebounded from a Friday sweep by Greybull to earn its first Class 2A conference volleyball victory Saturday at Thermopolis. The split left the Lady Grizz 1-1 in conference play.

Greybull defeated Rocky Mountain 25-14, 25-7, 25-21 on Friday.

“Our first conference game and a loss was hard to swallow,” coach Kay Townsend said. “The first two sets were shaky, and the scores reflect that.”

Townsend said the Lady Grizz carried the progress they showed in the third set into Saturday’s match.

“We didn’t let Friday night’s loss haunt us but took that last set and carried all the glimmers over to Saturday,” she said.

Rocky Mountain swept Thermopolis 25-19, 25-19, 25-16 on Saturday. Leah Haslem finished with 26 assists, and the Lady Grizz as a team served 16 aces.

“That is good hitting, passing and setting,” Townsend said, “complete cycle of good stuff throughout that game.”

Rocky Mountain’s work on blocking also showed. Halle Grandalen and Bailey Gifford recorded two solo blocks apiece against Greybull. The Lady Grizz added several block assists against Thermopolis, and Gifford had another solo block.

Rocky Mountain will continue to emphasize serve receive, blocking and hitting this week. The Lady Grizz host rival Burlington on Thursday, Oct. 1, with the freshman match at 4 p.m. and junior varsity and varsity play to follow. The varsity match is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Rocky Mountain then plays its third Class 2A West conference match at Shoshoni at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3.