Lady Miners continue their winning ways

The Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Lady Miners played three games on the road this past week and came out the winner in all three instances.

"I think it speaks well for these girls that we have played all but two games so far on the road," Head Coach Jackie Jones said. "We have a pretty brutal road schedule. For them to be able to walk into a gym like Encampment, Rock River or Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) this weekend and able to come away with three wins speaks volumes about these girls."

Encampment

The Lady Miners faced off against Encampment on September 24 and it went well for HEM. The 1st set they dispatched the Lady Tigers 25-17. The 2nd set was much closer, with HEM winning 25-22.

"Encampment is a team that you can't take lightly," Jones said. "There were times where I had to call timeouts and regroup to refocus against this team."

Jones' words worked as the Lady Miners won not only the 2nd set, but also came out on top of the 3rd set 25-15.

"These girls have something about them right now," Jones said. "They have a true will to win. I know there will be stumbling blocks along the way and I think that goes without saying."

Rock River

"Rock River is a young team, and they have some very talented freshman," Jones said. "I think they will be a team to watch in the coming years, but our senior leadership and the team gelling on court had us win."

The 1st set, the Lady Miners won handily 25-14. The 2nd set was much closer for the Lady Longhorns, but they still couldn't defeat HEM. The score was 25-18.

"Friday was Taylar Scott's day. She is a bigger hitter now and what is so good about Taylar is that she sees the court so well," Jones said. "She finds the holes and puts the ball down without taking the big swings."

The 3rd set the Lady Miners won easily 25-11.

Little Snake River Valley

"The last couple weeks, in the sets within the game, we have gone 18 and one. We dropped a set to Little Snake River," Jones said. "It was a real eye opener and the team realized that they aren't just going to cruise through everything. We are going to have to work still for things, Luckily this is a group of girls who do just that."

At LSRV the Lady Miners did have to work.

Their 1st set, HEM won in a close match 25-22. The 2nd set the Lady Miners lost. Jones said although they lost the set, she felt they actually won. The Lady Miners were down 4-17 and although they didn't pull off a win, HEM got the score up to 20 before losing. Jones said the momentum from the comeback resonated in the next two sets.

"Amy Campbell was in form, she swung over 70 times in four sets and with only two errors," Jones said. "When you have production like that, good things happen."

A. Campbelll was not the only Lady Miner Jones was happy with.

She said Charla Widdison and Avery Scott played well against LSRV. Jones said this was great since many teams focus in on T. Scott and A. Campbell.

"Avery is doing really well on defense," Jones said. "She can read the ball well. We have had a lot of focus on what we call 'vision on the ball.' Sometimes in volleyball it can be so mental, and you get some of those long rallies where the attention can start to go. We have really worked on communicating with each touch of the ball."

Jones was also impressed with Haley Felton's play.

"She continues to do what the team needs her to do," Jones said. "Then there is Madison (Campbell) who just continues to take care of us each week. It is nice, because when games are over, people come up to me and say is 'wow, your setter is amazing'. We feel blessed."

The Lady Miners did win the 3rd set in a close game 25-22.

"Little Snake River Valley is a great volleyball team," Jones said. "They have a phenomenal setter and great hitters. They are very fundamentally coached, so we are very proud to go to the Snake Pit and get ourselves a big win."

Jones said the team is humble about doing well this year.

"Still, I tell them, there is nothing wrong about feeling proud of their record," Jones concluded

The next scheduled game will be against Guernsey-Sunrise at 5 p.m. on October 2 at Hanna.