Rocky and Lovell Middle school volleyball season is in full swing

Middle school volleyball for both Rocky Mountain and Lovell schools has picked up pace as athletes continue practices and prepare for the many more matches to come in the next few weeks.

Rocky’s games against Burlington (on Friday, Sept. 5) ended in losses for the A, B and C teams. The A team lost the first set 25-14 but came back to win the second set 25-20. Burlington ended the match by pulling ahead of the Lady Grizz with a score of 15-8. The B team lost the first two sets to Burlington, 25-23 and 25-12 but won the third set 17-16. The C team fell to the Huskies 25-16 and 25-11 in the first two sets but similar to the B team, came back to win their third set 15-9.

The next matchup for Rocky Middle School was against Thermopolis the next day. The A team fell to the Bobcats 25-23 and 25-12 in the first two sets, then went on to win the third set 15-8. The B team fell to Thermopolis in all three sets, 26-24, 25-19 and 15-11. The C team started the match with a lost first set, 25-22, but came back to win the next two sets and the match, 26-24 and 15-8.

Rocky Mountain Middle School volleyball players competed against Ten Sleep last Tuesday, Sept. 9. The A team won all three sets of their match, 25-18, 26-24 and 15-7. The B team also won their match, beating Ten Sleep 25-17 and 25-16 in the two sets.

“It was a slow, kind of rough but great start to our season,” said head coach Lacey Bassett. “We know what we need to work on, and the Lady Grizz are ready to work. We have a lot of potential, and now the fun begins.”

The Lady Grizz will travel to play Meeteetse today (Thursday) at 4:15 p.m. and will travel to Basin Saturday to meet Riverside at 10 a.m. The Lady Grizz travel to Powell Tuesday for a 4:15 p.m. first serve. 

Lovell

Lovell Middle School had the opportunity to compete in a triangular tournament with Powell and Cody this past Saturday. The eighth-grade teams played at the Lovell High School gym, while the seventh-grade athletes competed at Powell Middle School.

The seventh-grade A team went up against Powell for their first match. Lovell easily beat Powell in the first set, 25-11, but fell to the Panthers 25-21 in the second set. The Lady Bulldogs were able to pull through in the third set, 17-15, to win the set and the match. The B team lost to Powell in the first two sets, 25-16 and 25-23 but won the third set 15-8.

In the matches against Cody, both seventh-grade teams fell to the Fillies. The A team lost the first two sets 25-21 and 25-16, and the B team similarly lost in two sets, 25-18 and 25-10. 

The eighth-grade Lady Bulldogs were matched against Powell first, as well. The A team breezed through all three sets, beating the Panthers 25-9, 25-13 and 15-5. The B team beat Powell in the first set, 25-15, but lost the second set by the close score of 27-25. The Lady Bulldogs came back to win the third set 15-13, securing the victory for the B team.

When competing against Cody, the A team was able to win in two sets, 25-18 and 25-19. The B team fell to the Fillies 25-23 in the first set but went on to win the next two sets 25-14 and 15-13, granting them the win for the match.

“The ball control against Cody was very good,” eighth-grade head coach Tiffany Anderson commented. “Our serving as a team is improving.”

The next competition for the Lady Bulldogs will be more matches against the Powell Panthers today (Thursday) at 4:15 p.m. with the eighth grade in Powell and the seventh grade at home. The Lovell netters face Worland Tuesday at 4:15 p.m., with the seventh graders at home and the eighth graders in Worland.