Heartbreak for HEM Lady Miners

The Hanna-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow (HEM) Lady Miners volleyball team headed to the 1A East Regional Volleyball Tournament in Rawlins last weekend with high hopes. The ladies showed strength, pride and tenacity but went home on Saturday after losing to Rock River in the second round of consolation matches.

HEM (12-11) faced off against the Upton Lady Bobcats (6-2, 17-11) Friday morning, working hard in a five set match taken by Upton (11-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 10-15). Upton took control during the first set, never letting go of the lead after a 1-1 tie. In the second set Upton kept HEM at bay, keeping the lead after the second point. The Lady Miners were getting it together though, closing the Upton lead to one point at 16-17. HEM just could not keep their momentum at the end of the second set.

In the third and fourth sets it looked like the Lady Miners found their stride. The third set between HEM and Upton was tied most of the way up to 22-22 when the Lady Miners finally broke through and took a 2 point set win. The fourth set saw HEM in the lead until Upton fought back for a 17-17 tie. After a few long volleys, the Lady Miners regained the lead and finished with a 25-21 set win.

Fifth sets have been problematic for HEM and they have not won one all season. After fighting back from a 3-8 deficit, the Lady Miners tied the fifth set at 9-9 before Upton went on a 5 point run, eventually taking the set 10-15, knocking HEM in to a consolation match against Midwest (2-6, 6-20).

"Once we decided to play volleyball and be the more aggressive team I know we were the better team," HEM Head Coach Jackie Jones said after the Upton match. Jones noted that the Lady Miners had some good net play, especially from Cheyenne Hunter and Cheyenne Tomkins who had success with their blocks.

HEM moved from their disappointing loss to Upton to focusing on controlling the tempo of the match against Midwest, which they did winning in four sets (25-19, 21-25, 25-10, 25-17) on Friday afternoon. HEM won the first and third sets without ever losing their lead. The first half of the second set was dominated by HEM having a lead of 13-7 before the Lady Oilers hit their way to a 21-25 set win. The Lady Miners found their composure in the fourth set against Midwest taking an early lead and not giving up a mid-set battle that resulted in a 12-12 tie. At the end of the set HEM went on a 7 point run to finish the Lady Oilers season and move on to the next round of the tournament.

The Lady Miners defeat of Midwest can be credited to the strong serves of Haley Clark, Chloe Tolbert, Jessie Frederick and Hunter. Darby Bowen, Tomkins and Hunter also helped bring down the Lady Oilers with their kills.

The real heartbreak of the weekend came in the Lady Miners four set loss to the Rock River Lady Longhorns (18-25, 12-25, 25-20, 24-26).

During Saturday's match the sets were long and the Lady Miners fought hard, but were outmatched by Rock River. While the lead was exchanged several times early in the first set between HEM and Rock River, the Lady Longhorns seemed to gather strength finishing solidly against HEM in the first set and never letting go of the lead in the second set. The third set saw the Lady Miners talking to each other and being more aggressive at the net resulting in HEM taking the lead after a 4-4 tie and never looking back. The momentum was in HEM's favor going in to the fourth set. They parlayed that in to a 7-3 and eventually an 18-12 lead before the Lady Longhorns made a comeback. In a nail-biter finish Rock River went on a run starting at a 24-22 deficit to win the set 24-26, sending HEM back to Hanna.

This was the third time Rock River had beaten HEM this season, but there were some positives from the match.

"What was nice to see today was that they had fun playing volleyball again," Jones said after the match, adding, "They put in a heck of a season."

Jones also said that HEM has some big shoes to fill with the three seniors they will lose before next season. Two of those seniors, Bowen and Tolbert, stepped up as team leaders during the playoffs, guiding the team and coming up with big hits.

For now, the Lady Miners can rest well and know they fought hard right up to the last play of the season.