Lady Tigers rope Longhorns, bury Miners

The Encampment Lady Tigers' Volleyball team (2-0, 10-1) won back to back matches Saturday, first playing the Rock River Longhorns (6-4), then at Hanna, with the only rest being on the bus. The Lady Tigers won against Rock River 25-11, 25-8, 25-20. Against Hanna-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow (HEM) (8-4), the Tigers won in three sets 25-15, 25-8, 25-11.

Despite the double header, the Lady Tigers were calm, cool and collective during the matches against their opponents.

In Rock River, the Lady Tigers easily won the first two sets against Rock River.

In the third set, Tigers Head Coach Robin O'Leary gave her junior varsity players some time on the floor.

The Tigers fell behind and she put in the original six varsity players. The team came from behind to win the game.

O'Leary said the varsity players are so used to each other, they know what to expect. But when a different player comes in, it throws off their rhythm.

"It's not a bad thing," O'Leary said, "it's just different."

The varsity girls were not as comfortable with the replacements as they are the original six, and it showed on the court in the third set at Rock River.

"It was good for us to come from behind and still get a win," O'Leary said.

For the coach, keeping the winning team playing together is better than getting other players off the bench.

When the girls are doing well against a team, she puts in a sub to have them get acquainted with the varsity play.

The junior varsity has their own Feng Shui, as they beat Rock River with only five players on the floor.

Paige Powell, a freshman who plays on both teams, is now playing all around, where in the past she played only on the front line.

To make sure she was not overworked, she did not play at the Rock River junior varsity match.

Since O'Leary did not have another JV player to fill her spot, the team opted for play with five players. They won the first set, then lost the second set. They won the third set 25 to 20.

"I thought the JV team did really awesome," O'Leary said.

In Rock River, Noelle Peterson got some varsity experience on the floor, while Cheyanne Jordan and Kaylyn Herring got their chances at the Hanna match.

For Cassidy Little, it was a good week serving wise. She struggles from time to time with her serves, but Saturday she was hot. She made 7 points with 10 serves at the Rock River game and 18 points from 21 successful serves in Hanna.

Sierra Loftice, who is normally the lead with her powerful serves, put on a good performance as well. In the Rock River game, she earned 13 points form 17 serves and had two aces.

Alysssa Barkhurst has a good serving day with 15 successful serves earning 14 points in Rock River.

The girls are constantly communicating on the floor and it shows in their game. While the opposing team is scrambling for the ball, the Lady Tigers dominated the court with the ease of seeing the ball and responding to score the point.

Last week, O'Leary said she had the team work on their defense. It proved to be beneficial, as the Lady Tigers had 54 successful digs in the Rock River game and 58 successful digs in the HEM game.

Friday, the Lady Tigers will come to Saratoga to play the Saratoga Lady Panthers. Game time is at 4 p.m. for JV and varsity play begins at 5:15 p.m. at the Saratoga Middle High School gym.