Victory elusive for improving Lady Grizz

The Lady Grizz volleyball squad put a lot of pieces together this week but were unable to come away with a victory after two hard-fought matches.

The two losses now place the team at 10-14-3.

The Lady Grizz took 3A school Worland to four sets on October 12.

Worland took away the first set 25-23 before Rocky Mountain returned the favor in the second set, winning it 25-22.

“The girls really lit it up in Worland Thursday. We played very well against a tall, hard hitting team,” head coach Stephanie Ames said. “We covered pretty well and played in sync most of the night.”

The Grizz lost their footing after the first two sets, dropping the third set 25-19 and finally dropping the match in a 25-11 fourth set.

“We matched Worland with 33 total kills each. It was a really fun game to see,” Ames said. “It really felt like a win to us, coming off of some rather low performing games the week before. We were proud of the girls, and they were proud of themselves.”

Lauren Bassett led the attack with 11 kills. MacKelle Moss had nine kills, Brittly Boettcher had seven. Shelby Wambeke recorded three, Kaitey Christensen two.

Wambeke had 12 assists in the contest, Keylee Christiansen had five. Christensen also had five.

Boettcher recorded four aces in the match and had a 100 percent serving percentage. Rylee Winland had two aces.

Boettcher also led the team in digs with 11. Layla Gardner had seven, Wambeke six, Bassett five. Christiansen and Moss had three digs each. 

Christensen had four solo block and four assisted blocks. Moss had six assisted blocks. Boettcher recorded two assisted blocks. 

Rocky Mountain went the distance with Shoshoni in Saturday’s contest. After Shoshoni took the first set 25-23, the Lady Grizz stood strong in a 28-26 second set. 

The Wranglers took firm control of the 25-16 third set, but again the Lady Grizz evened the match with a 25-18 fourth set. 

It came down the final fifth set, and the Lady Grizz slipped. Shoshoni won the match in a 15-8 showing to win the match. 

Ames said she was impressed with Shoshoni’s play, while giving a mixed review of her own team. 

“Shoshoni played very scrappy without their main outside hitter, who is out with a season ending injury. I was very impressed with their ability to pick up a lot of balls,” Ames said. “We played pretty well, had some good runs and a good hitting day. Ultimately, we need to work on finishing. It seems we drag a lot more later in the game, and we need to remedy that.”

Ames said the match overall was equally contested, with Shoshoni more able to perform in the crucial moments. Still, it shows lots of promise for her team as the postseason waits only two weeks away. 

“The girls are on the rise, I think,” Ames said. “I’m hoping that means we’ll peak at tournament time.”

Moss led the team with 16 kills. Bassett had 10 kills in the match, Boettcher nine, Christensen five.

Wambeke led the team with 22 assists. Christiansen had eight assists. Christensen had five. Bassett recorded two. 

Wambeke also had the best serving performance in the match, recording four aces. Bassett and Boettcher both recorded two.

Boettcher led the team with 23 digs. Moss had 15, Bassett  14. Gardner recorded 11, Christiansen had nine, Wambeke ended with six. 

Moss led the team with three assisted blocks. Bassett had two assisted blocks. Christiansen had two block assists and one solo block. Boettcher also recorded a solo block. 

The varsity will next head to Wind River on Friday for a 6 p.m. varsity matchup. Freshmen will play at 4 p.m. while JV plays at 5 p.m.

The team will then play Saturday at 2 p.m. against Tongue River in a home contest with JV scheduled for 1 p.m. The contest will also serve as senior recognition for the team.