Lady Grizz shift strategies for the Wind River Invitational

The Lady Grizz hit the road this last week to Pavillion, playing in the Wind River Invitational.

Their first match against host Wind River resulted in a win in two sets and one loss as Rocky prevailed 25-11, 16-25, 15-11.

The next match against Fort Washakie ended in a sweep for Rocky Mountain High. The two sets of the match ended with Rocky ahead 25-14 and 25-12.

Shoshoni was the next opponent the Lady Grizz faced, and Coach Kay Townsend noted, “We had a few slow starts in games” and this match proved to be one of them. Rocky fell in both sets to the Lady Blue 25-22, 25-22. Coach Kay added “our losses were also close games.”

Against Dubois, the Rams came out strong in the first set of the match, winning 25-16. The Lady Griz came back in a close set, overcoming the Rams 25-23. However, Dubois wasn’t going to give in to the determination of Rocky, ending the match ahead at 15-14. 

Next up the ladies took on the Wyoming Indian Lady Chiefs, sweeping both sets 25-22 and 25-17.

Against Meeteetse, the Lady Grizz dropped the first set 25-20, but Townsend said, “The girls dug in and found a way to win.” The Lady Griz went on to win the next two sets, 25-19 and 15-8.

The top hitters for the tournament were Sawyer Bassett with 35 kills, Halle Grandalen 26 kills and Kaysie Cooley with 24 kills.

Coach Kay stated that there was a shift in strategy for this tournament. Rather than playing the previous 6-2 offense, the team shifted to a 5-1 offense.

“Saturday of the tournament we went back to a 5-1, meaning we are using one setter, Leah Haslem,” Townsend said. “I believe this change will be very beneficial to our program.”

The shift resulted in Haslem having 59 setting assists and Charlee Welling with 23. Serving was also looking great and resulted in over 90% for Grandalen, Annie Crosby and Cooley. Townsend added, “It was two very long days of volleyball, but a lot of learning took place.”

Friday the Lady Grizz travel to the Big Horn Invitational, which continues Saturday.

“We will meet 2A opponents from other conferences,” Townsend noted. “It is good to see what the other side of the conference looks like.”