Lady Panthers add two more wins

If the slim loss to the Cokeville Lady Panthers the weekend before was still on the minds of the Saratoga Lady Panthers, it didn't show as they added two more wins to their season while on the road. On Tuesday, Saratoga was hosted by the Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Lady Miners (25-13, 25-19, 25-21) and secured a second win against the defending state runner-ups. Saturday, the Lady Panthers traveled to Rock River where they were hosted by the Lady Longhorns (25-18, 25-20, 25-20) and dispatched them in three sets.

"Overall a successful week," said Shayley Love, head coach of the Lady Panthers. "We did have a couple of injuries in Rock River, so I was very pleased with the girls that stepped up in that game and the girls on the floor really talking and helping each other out."

Lady Panthers vs.

Lady Miners

When Saratoga hosted the Lady Miners in September, HEM was able to get at least one set away from the Lady Panthers. This time, as the Lady Panthers took to HEM's court, Saratoga snagged a win in three sets.

Senior Aubrey Berger led the team with 11 kills against the Lady Miners and was followed by fellow senior Taylor Bennett, who had 7 kills. Freshman Whitney Bennett had 6 kills against HEM while senior Jenna Dew and junior Savannah Wells had 4 kills.

Dew served 3 aces to the Lady Miners with a total of 15 serves with 100 percent successful serves. W. Bennett and Berger each served 2 aces and T. Bennett served 1 ace while maintaining 100 percent successful serves across 12 serves.

Dew was also the lead blocker, with 4 solo blocks and was followed by Berger with 3 solo blocks.

Libero Tasia Daley did the most digging as she kept a volley from landing a total of 23 times. W. Bennett had 20 digs, Berger had 16 digs and T. Bennett had 10 digs.

Lady Panthers vs.

Lady Longhorns

Following a successful win in the southeast conference, the Lady Panthers returned to play against Rock River. When Saratoga hosted the Lady Longhorns last month, the Lady Panthers secured a win across four sets. The Lady Longhorns would be unable to take a set from Saratoga this time.

T. Bennett led the team with 15 kills while Berger had 7 kills against Rock River. Freshman Olivia Everett stepped up and served 6 kills along with Dew.

Lexi Herring served a total of 6 aces and was followed by Berger with 4 aces.

T. Bennett returned to her spot as lead blocker with 7 solo blocks against the Lady Longhorns. The Lady Panthers as a team had 8 assisted blocks.

Daley dug deep, again, with 20 digs against Rock River and was followed by Berger with 15 digs. Herring and Kelly Glode each had 6 digs.

With two more wins under their belt, the Lady Panthers are now 12-2 for the season and still 3-1 for conference. Saratoga heads to Dubois this weekend to compete in the 1A Jamboree.

"My goal is to play with consistency this weekend and get a good look at what our competition from the north will be at regional time," Love said.

The Lady Panthers will begin the jamboree by playing against the St. Stephens Lady Eagles on Friday.