Rocky netters edged by Greybull, stop Shoshoni
The Rocky Mountain Lady Grizzlies are gaining momentum as the postseason nears, with a split but overall strong play against Greybull and Shoshoni Friday and Saturday.
Friday in Greybull, the Grizz gave the Lady Buffs all they wanted in a 3-1 loss, and they rebounded to beat Shoshoni at home on Saturday, also 3-1.
Friday’s match in Greybull was a barnburner as the Grizz fell 25-20, 26-24, 21-25, 25-23, and head coach Stephanie Ames gave credit to Greybull for hard hitting and making adjustments.
“Unfortunately, the Greybull game didn’t turn out like we had hoped,” Ames said. “We did a lot of prep for them and adjusted our coverage a bit to respond to their hitters.
The coverage worked OK, but the problem ended up being our inability to block them consistently. Greybull has a couple girls who can really place hits; they adjusted to our blockers better than our blockers adjusted to their hitters. That was really the big game changer.
“We did great on the offensive side of the net. It’s crazy to see our kill numbers and still have lost the game. Sara (Schlattmann) is a great coach and always has Greybull doing good stuff. While we are disappointed in the loss, we can learn a lot from it.”
Senior Brittly Boettcher led the Lady Grizz with 21 kills, and Lauren Bassett added 11, Tarynn Schoening nine. Shelby Wambeke led with five assisted blocks, and Bassett had four. Keylee Christiansen had four aces, and she and Wambeke had 19 assists each. Wambeke led with 14 digs, and Bassett had eight, Christiansen seven, Elliahna Scheeler and Boettcher six apiece, Layla Gardner and Schoening three each.
Shoshoni win
Saturday at home, the Lady Grizz stopped Shoshoni in a key conference match 25-20, 18-25, 25-16, 26-24.
Rocky Mountain led throughout the first set, but after the score was tied 17-17 in the second set, Shoshoni closed the set with an 8-1 run. Rocky dominated the third set, forcing Shoshoni timeouts when the Lady Grizz led 10-5 and 18-10 before winning set point, 25-16, on a block by Boettcher.
The fourth set was a battle, tied 19-19, 20-20 and 21-21. Shoshoni surged ahead 24-21, but the Lady Grizz rallied, tied the score 24-24 on a Bassett spike, then scored the final two points on a block and a Shoshoni tip that went wide.
“Shoshoni was a little better showing,” Ames said. “I did anticipate we would have beaten them a little faster, but as we have often this season, we had some trouble with consistency. We played very streaky, and it put us in situations where we had to make up points.
“Our team is made of great athletes and great volleyball players. We just have to be able to be great together more of the time.”
Boettcher led the Rocky netters with 12 kills, and Bassett added 10 kills, Schoening six, Wambeke three and Christiansen and Halle Grandalen two each. Bassett had four solo blocks, Boettcher two, and Bassett, Schoening, Wambeke and Christiansen had two assisted blocks each. Christiansen passed for 17 assists, Wambeke 15, and Bassett finished with 19 digs, Boettcher 17, Schoening nine, Scheeler eight, Gardner six, Wambeke five and Christiansen three.
Final home match
The Lady Grizz will host Thermopolis Friday at 5 (JV) and 6 p.m. for the final home and conference match of the season. Rocky is tied with Thermop in the 2A Northwest standings, both at 3-2, though the Lady Grizz did edge the Bobcats 3-2 in Thermopolis on October 4. Whoever wins will clinch second place in the final standings heading into the regional tournament.
Rocky will finish the regular season with a non-conference match at Tongue River Saturday at 1 and 2 p.m., then travel to Lander for the 2A West Regional Tournament on November 1-2.
“Friday night is going to be huge for us,” Ames said. “We will definitely be practicing with them as our focus this week.”