Saratoga clips Lady Eagles' wings

Saratoga Lady Panthers volleyball started off their new season with a decisive win on Friday afternoon, welcoming the Fort Washakie Lady Eagles to the 1A Southwest Conference in a 3-0 shutout.

The opening match of the season gave Head Coach Shayley Love, who has returned after a season away, the opportunity to see what the Lady Panthers may be capable of this season.

“My girls know that every one of them is going to be pushed this year just because there’s a ton of talent on this team,” said Love.

Saratoga clipped the Lady Eagles’ wings, keeping scoring low for Fort Washakie while establishing substantial leads for themselves. In the first set, junior Cassidy Herring made several well placed serves, pushing the Lady Panthers to a 20-4 lead. Herring, it seemed, was able to find the weak spots in the Lady Eagles’ defense and take advantage of it.

Though Fort Washakie was able to get possession of the ball a few times, they were unable to capitalize on Saratoga’s errors and did little to close the gap in the first set.

At the beginning of the second set, it looked as if perhaps Fort Washakie would begin to give the Lady Panthers some competition. The Lady Eagles, however, couldn’t take flight before Saratoga pounced on their unforced errors and took control of the match.

This time, it would be Madi Johnson who would help increase the lead for the Lady Panthers. Her surgically precise serve into the undefended zones of Fort Washakie’s side of the court. Proving victory was a team effort, Addison Collins—a new arrival for the Lady Panthers—also made some powerful serves which the Lady Eagles appeared to have few answers for.

Having scratched out two sets in a row, Head Coach Shayley Love began to experiment with her lineup, subbing in some of her less experienced players.

“It’s nice when you can start playing some of these girls and getting them into rotations, just to see what it feels like because that’s not typically going to happen,” said Love.

While this allowed Fort Washakie to, momentarily, gain on the Lady Panthers they hardly seemed stressed. Johnson and Josie Little both completed several successful serves against the Lady Eagles to increase the gap. When not serving, Johnson dug deep as the libero for Saratoga, keeping the ball active and out of the Lady Panthers’ court.

“Josie [Little] did a nice job for us. She’s always solid. I feel like she’s just that all-around player that always brings that spunk that you need,” said Love. “Madi [Johnson] did a nice job of getting to the defense today as well as did a nice job with her serves.”

Love also had high praise for Allie Condict, who has been tasked with often being the lone setter for the Lady Panthers.

“She’s running a five-one right now because we’re figuring out setter situations. That can be a lot for a kid that’s not ever ran a five-one,” said Love. “But then [her] little sister’s (Shelby Condict) been coming in and we kind of switch to a six-two, so that gives her that little bit of a break.”

At the end of the match, Saratoga went 25-9, 25-11 and 25-8 against the Lady Eagles. Though she saw some positives in the first match of the season, Love said she’s still undecided on who the starting line-up will look for the Lady Panthers.

I don’t know starter wise but, I can tell you right now, the ones I’m very impressed with are my seniors. [They’re] doing a great job of leading,” said Love. “They might not always have the top notch game out here but seeing what they’re doing in practice and what they’re doing with this program and building that tradition, I think that’s so important for your team.”

With this win under their belt, the Lady Panthers now prepare to take on yet another conference rival with the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Lady Rattlers. Going up against LSRV, Love said she may not switch out her bench as much as she did on Friday.

“I’m probably not going to rotate my whole bench against Baggs just because it’ll be a different temp and some of these younger girls, they just need more experience for that,” said Love. “For the most part, we’re just getting to know each other, again. I took a year off, they had different things last year they were doing and I switched their defense, again. I’m going to do what I’m familiar with, so I’m back to old school but we’re starting to fall back into it.”

Love said all that’s lacking at this point for the Lady Panthers is to work on their defense.

“All the girls like to play offense. They like to hit the ball and do the fun stuff so once we get our defense solid I think it’ll be pretty fun to watch.”

The Saratoga Lady Panthers will be hosted by the LSRV Lady Rattlers at 4:30 p.m. on September 5. They will then compete in the Foothills Classic Tournament in Pavillion on September 6 and 7.