Saratoga gets two out of three

It was a busy weekend for Saratoga Lady Panthers volleyball as they played in three conference games, going 2-1 for the weekend.

On September 27, the Lady Panthers were hosted by the Fort Washakie Lady Eagles and the Farson-Eden Lady Pronghorns for two critical wins. Then, on September 28, Saratoga was hosted by the Cokeville Lady Panthers in a conference loss.

Lady Panthers vs. Lady Eagles

Saratoga began their weekend on Friday afternoon as they faced off against the Lady Eagles. Earlier this season, the Lady Panthers hosted Fort Washakie and welcomed them to the 1A Southwest Conference with a loss in three sets. This match was no different as Saratoga went 25-8, 25-16, 25-12 against the Lady Eagles.

Freshman Addie Collins led the team in attacking the net against Fort Washakie with 8 kills and was followed by senior Josie Little with 6 kills. Sophomore Maggie Elder also contributed to attacking the net with 3 kills.

Junior Gillian Creed, meanwhile, led in serves with 4 aces against the Lady Eagles. Sophomore Shelby Condict served two aces as did freshman Koya Roberts. Allie Condict, meanwhile, the lead digger with a total of 13 digs against Fort Washakie. Little followed with 9 digs.

Lady Panthers vs. Lady Pronghorns

After clipping the wings of the Lady Eagles for a second time, Saratoga went on to face the Lady Pronghorns that evening. This was the first time the Lady Panthers faced Farson-Eden outside of a tournament and Saratoga was able to narrowly secure a win in three sets.

Against the Lady Pronghorns, Saratoga went 25-16, 25-22, 25-23 for their second conference win of the weekend.

The match against Farson-Eden was much more defensive than offensive, with the Lady Panthers doing more attacking the net and digging out serves compared to delivering aces. Collins, again, led in attacking the net with 11 kills with Little following with 9 kills. Junior Cassidy Herring attacked the net with 7 kills and senior Sophie Diaz had 6 kills. Senior Madi Johnson, meanwhile, led in digs in her role as libero with a total of 27 digs. Little followed with 13 digs and Elder had 10 digs.

In serving meanwhile, A. Condict and Elder each served one ace against the Lady Pronghorns.

Lady Panthers vs. Lady Panthers

The next day, Saratoga was hosted by Cokeville in what would be an eventual conference loss for the purple and gold Lady Panthers. Ultimately, Saratoga fell to Cokeville with scores of 12-25, 15-25, 17-25.

Attacking the net, Collins continued to lead with 8 kills followed by Little with 6 kills. Collins and Elder served two aces against Cokeville.

In defensive stats, it was obvious Saratoga didn’t give up without a fight as Diaz led in blocking with 7 total blocks followed by Herring with 3 total blocks. Johnson, meanwhile, led in digging with 15 digs. Little had 14 digs and Creed had 10 digs.

Following their weekend on the road, Saratoga is sitting at No. 4 in the 1A Southwest Conference with a season record of 9-7-3 and a conference record of 3-3.

The Lady Panthers get a small break from conference play this week but will still be on the road as they are hosted by the North Park Wildcats in Walden, Colorado at 4:30 p.m. on October 8 and the Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow Lady Miners in Hanna at 5 p.m. on October 10.