One foot in front of the other leads to State for Lady Grizz

Rocky Mountain’s volleyball team earned a berth in the Class 2A State Tournament with a fourth-place finish at last weekend’s regional tournament in Lander.

The Lady Grizz opened with a five-set win over Saratoga, 25-14, 25-23, 23-25, 20-25, 17-15. Senior Kaysie Cooley recorded 14 kills, and Rocky posted a 95% serve-receive rate. Sawyer Bassett served two consecutive aces as Rocky built a two-set lead. Saratoga rallied to win the next two sets, using timeouts to slow Rocky’s momentum in the fourth, before the Lady Grizz won the deciding set.

Greybull swept Rocky in the next match, sending the Lady Grizz to the consolation bracket to face Big Piney. Leah Haslem served at 100% with one ace against Greybull.

After a slow start, Rocky swept Big Piney 25-22, 25-19, 25-19 to advance. Shoshoni then defeated the Lady Grizz 25-16, 25-21, 25-21 in the match for third place. Rocky recorded 60 digs against Shoshoni and finished fourth in the regional tournament, punching their ticket to State. 

Rocky Mountain will face Big Horn at 6 p.m. Thursday in its state tournament opener.

“We have a tough first game at State, but we will give our all,” coach Kay Townsend said. “We know they will be tough, but we are planning to give them a fight.”

Townsend said the players are peaking at the right time, and the team hopes to end the season on a high note.