Lady Panthers net five games in away tournament

The Saratoga Middle High school Lady Panthers hit the road over the weekend. The Bobcat invitational tournament in Thermopolis was held October 1 and 2. The Lady Panthers played a total of five conference matches over two days. Coming away with two wins and two ties, the Lady Panthers only lost one match of the weekend. Head Coach Shayley Love said,”It was a good weekend overall for our team.  We are trying a few things in our line up and it proved to have some huge benefits for us.  I felt like this past tournament our girls developed some energy and brought a more competitive game to the court.”

Starting out Friday the Saratoga Lady Panthers faced Thermopolis’s team Hot Springs County playing two sets in the conference match. Hot Spring County took the first set winning 21-16. The Lady Panthers dug deep to win the second set at 21-20. Whitney Bennett had 4 kills of the team’s 10. Hanna Lathrop had 4 digs of the team’s 16. Hot Springs County and Lady Panthers each won a set in the match, ending the conference match in a tie.

The Saratoga Lady Panthers slashed into the St. Stevens Lady Eagles next. Winning the first set 21-13 the Lady Panthers had their claws out. Whitney Bennett had 4 kills of the teams 9 as well as 8 attacks of 29 team totals. Makenne King served 4 aces of the teams 9 ace totals. The Lady Panthers bit into the Lady Eagles winning the second set 21-8. Saratoga won their second game of the invitational conference.

The Shoshoni Lady Wranglers faced the Saratoga Lady Panthers at the weekend’s tournament. The Lady Panthers were in attack mode scoring 52 team total attacks, led by Whitney Bennett with 20 attacks and 7 kills for the match. Saratoga won the first set 21-19 against Shoshoni. The Lady Panthers dug their teeth into the Lady Wranglers with Josie Little and Hanna Lathrop scoring 4 digs each of the team’s 18 total digs. The Lady Panthers won the second set 21-19 and the conference match. “Our match against Shoshoni on Friday night was one of the best I have seen our girls play all season.  They were playing as a team and there was so much energy on the floor.  They utilized that energy to put all of their skills together to get a win over shoshoni”, said Love

First thing Saturday morning the Saratoga Lady Panthers Faced off against the Greybull Lady Buffaloes. With one point difference in both sets the match was a close tie. The Lady Buffalos were able to take the first set winning 21-20. The Lady Panthers had 16 team kills total with Makenna King and Whitney Bennett having 6 kills each. Digging their heels in, the Lady Panthers had 28 total digs led by Freshman Josie Little with 8 digs. Saratoga won the second set 21-2 ending the conference match in tie.

Saratoga Lady Panthers final game of the weekend was against the Riverside Lady Rebels. The Lady Rebels won the first set 25-23. The Lady Panthers dug in with 27 total team digs and 58 attacks. Freshman Josie Little had 4 kills of the team’s total 10. The Lady Panthers lost the second set 25-9. The Lady Rebels won both sets. Ending the match and weekend of tournaments for the Saratoga Lady Panthers. “I’m very proud of the way these girls get better each week and look forward to more success as we continue through the season.” Said Love

The next Match for the Saratoga Lady Panthers will be against the Encampment Tigers October 7 at 5:00 p.m. in the Saratoga gym.