Lady Rattlers strike again

The Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Lady Rattlers had just one game last week as they hosted the Saratoga Lady Panthers on September 24. While the Lady Panthers would take one set from LSRV, the Lady Rattlers came away with another conference win.

Head Coach Jenny Evans was proud of her team of netters, with positive comments for both the front and back row players.

“I felt like it went pretty well. I just told them they need to go out and they need to be really aggressive and I feel like we were aggressive at the front row. We were moving the ball pretty good. We have several hitters I feel like you can give the ball to and they can do something with it,” said Evans. “I feel like our digging in the back row was pretty good. Whitney (Bennett) is an outstanding front row player and, of course, she did put some balls down but I feel like our back row was adjusting and moving to face the hitter.”

Though the Lady Rattlers did well on digging out most attempts by the Lady Panthers to score with a team total of 86 digs, Evans said LSRV also took this most recent match to work on blocking.

“We knew we needed to put up some blocks and touches on Whitney because she’s pretty strong out at the front net. So I feel like Cashley Criswell really stepped up and helped us with the blocking,” Evans said. “I just felt like they played really well as a team.”

Though the Lady Rattlers were able to take the first two sets from Saratoga, 25-23 in the 1st set and 25-18 in the 2nd set, the Lady Panthers took the 3rd set 25-21. LSRV was able to recover, however, and ended the match in the 4th set with a score of 25-15.

Skylynn Ready led the team in attacking the net with 17 kills and was followed by Destre Kaisler with 8 kills and Criswell with 7 kills. Regina Herrera, meanwhile, lead the team in serving with 7 aces against the Lady Panthers and was followed by Kylie Evans and Katelynn Engleheart with 4 aces each.

With the 86 combined digs against Saratoga, a majority of those came from K. Evans with 31 digs. Kaisler followed with 16 digs and Ready had 13 digs.

“The last few years we’ve just really been growing and I just feel like this year these girls have really decided they want to go a lot further than we have in the past and they are. They’re just working really well as a team, they’ve been supportive,” said Evans. “That’s the biggest thing I think is the have support and they push each other to be the best and I think that’s what’s really helping us.”

Following their second win over the Lady Panthers, LSRV is 14-2 for the season and 3-1 in conference play. The Lady Rattlers are 2nd in the competitive 1A Southwest Conference, just behind the Cokeville Lady Panthers.

This week, LSRV gets a break from conference play and single games as they compete in the Thermopolis Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

“I’m excited about it,” Evans said. “I’m just really looking forward to playing somebody new and somebody that I’m sure will be challenging and just hopes that it helps our team to build and keep pushing hard.”