Lady Tigers net even more wins

Four members of the Encampment Lady Tiger Volleyball team were awarded All-Conference awards at the end of the volleyball. One received All-State recognition as well.

Alyssa Barkhurst, Sierra Loftice, Cassidy Little and McKenzie Powell received All-Conference honors with Barkhurst also getting an All-State nod.

Considering the three of the top four placers at the state tournament were from the Southwest Conference, the girls joined an impressive list.

Barkhurst, for the second year in a row received an All-State award making her a four-time recipient. Two in track for her freshman year and two in volleyball for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

The girls were not the only members of the team to be recognized. Head Coach Robin O’Leary received conference co-coach of the year in a tie with Bill Thompson.

Assistant coach Jenn Anderson received co-assistant coach of the year.

Barkhurst and Lofitice are on the first team All-Conference and Little and Powell are second team All-Conference. The first team is the top six girls in the conference and second team is the next eight girls, O’Leary explained.

Little has received All-Conference in basketball, but this is her first All-Conference award in volleyball. “I was pretty excited because we have a really tough conference with Baggs, Cokeville and us in (the conference),” Little said. “It’s a pretty big honor to be put on that team.”

Little said she and her teammates play really well together and she believes it brings out the best of all of her teammates on the court.

Little was really pleased with how the team did this year and she looks forward to doing better next year. Little’s favorite part of the season was beating Cokeville at home. Little said she has a lot of respect for the Cokeville team. “It just made feel we are that good as well,” Little said.

Loftice received honorable mention last year for All-Conference. As a sophomore, she said she was grateful for the award because it made her realize people do see all the hard work she and the team does on the court. Loftice she felt really good about four of six starters making All-Conference. “It was a confirmation that we are a good team. I knew in my heart we were a good team; this award showed other people realize it too,” Loftice said.

Beating Cokeville at home was also Loftice’s favorite part of the season. “We knew they didn’t have two of their starters that night, but (winning) helped us get over that mental block,” Loftice said.

Barkhurst said she was honored to receive All-State for the second year in a row. “It’s a great opportunity just knowing they voted for me and nominated me. It’s special because a lot of girls don’t get nominated,” Barkhurst said. “It feels great.”

Barkhurst said her favorite part was making it to state and playing volleyball when the team played “Tiger” volleyball. “That was fun, and the success we got from that,” Barkhurst said.

Barkhurst and Loftice both said they appreciated their coaches, family and fans who have supported them throughout the season.

“I guess Coach Robin got co-coach of the year and she didn’t say anything about it,” Barkhurst said.

Powell, who is still nursing a sprained ankle, is already looking forward to next year when her younger sister Paige and Noelle Peterson will be playing volleyball. “I am very grateful,” Powell said of receiving an All-Conference nomination.

She also knows the competition to be a starter will be tough too, because like Powell, Paige is a strong hitter and blocker.

O’Leary said she was really pleased to find out four of her six starters made All-Conference. “I felt like all four of them deserved it. It is really hard to get Encampment on the All-Conference team because of Baggs and Cokeville because they are so strong.”

O’Leary said usually only two of her players are named to All-Conference, so when four were named she said that shows other coaches have respect for the talent of the Encampment girls.

The conference coaches vote for coach of the year and with two different votes, there were ties between O’Leary and Thompson. “We couldn’t break the tie, so we just did co-coach,” O’Leary said.

“It was a huge honor for me, especially to be co-coach with Bill Thompson. He is a coach I have admired since I was in school myself,” O’Leary said. “I have looked up to him and tailored our program after him because of his success level.”

O’Leary said she respects him as a coach because of his ethics. Thompson has been the head coach at Cokeville for six years and assistant coach for 10 years before that. Cokeville won their fourth straight state title in volleyball earlier this month. O’Leary said Cokeville has won the state championship in volleyball 20 times over the last 30 years. “They have an outstanding program and I am still super pleased with our season,” O’Leary said.

She was particularly pleased with the amount of compliments she received about her team and how they were respectful on and off the court. “There is only one state champion, but to be recognized with the respect, that means more than anything,” O’Leary said.