The Lady Tigers bring home two wins

The Encampment Lady Tigers are getting closer to their goal - make it to state volleyball. The team played three rivals on the road last week and proved they fight for the wins.

Their only loss was to the Cokeville Panthers, a strong southeast conference opponent. Friday night, the Tigers fell to the Panthers 23-25, 15-25, 18-25. Despite the loss, Savannah Fagan had 12 digs and Kyenna Jackson scored with 50 percent of her kills.

“We played Cokeville tough the first set although our hitting wasn't as strong as it has been, Head Coach Janice Peterson said. “The girls came out with great intensity, focus, and grit which made us very competitive. We lost our momentum after the first set and struggled to regain it.”

Saturday morning they repeated the score in the first set against the Farson-Eden Lady Pronghorns losing 23-25. It wasn’t for a lack of trying as the Lady Tigers performed several kills and blocks in the first set. The Tigers had the lead with their strong front line at the first time out with a score of 16-13. The score had basically stayed tied up to that point. It was pretty obvious on the court that the Tigers and the Pronghorns were equally strong in the first set and both teams fought to keep up with each other. They played exciting rallies and seemed to anticipate each other's teams moves, even though this was their first match against each other in the season.

And that is what volleyball is supposed to be about throughout the season, each team improving with each match and having good competition.

Both teams were determined to pull out a win in the set. By the second time out, the score was 21-18 and the Lady Tigers were holding onto the lead. Farson-Eden tightened up the score to 22-21 when the Lady Tigers attempted a block and the ball went awry. The Lady Pronghorns tied the score at 22 with a kill and the set went into a third timeout.

Despite an attempted kill by Jackson and Eckerley Pickett, the balls go out of bounds and the score is 23-24.

The final return by the Lady Tigers seemed to hit inside the line, but after some indecision by the referee Farson-Eden was awarded the winning point.

Not to be deterred, the Lady Tigers fought just as hard in the second set. The score stayed tied up to 18 points and both teams worked hard to keep the volleyball in play. Pickett scored the winning point with a kill and the Lady Tigers won the set 25-22.

Coming off a win, the Lady Tigers were ready to prove they were the better players and kept a strong lead against Farson-Eden.By the first time out, the Tigers were leading 16-7.

Kills by Kristie Jordan and Jackson were instrumental in winning the set 25-11.

By the fourth set, the Lady Tigers were on fire, especially Jackson who scored three successive points with kills and a block to give the Tigers a strong lead of 11-4 at the first time out.

The Lady Pronghorns blockers are as strong as the Lady Tigers and Encampments front row had to get creative to get past their blocks. They succeed by switching up their routine and getting their ball into the middle of the Pronghorns defense line. The Pronghorns had closed the score into 22-20. A kill by Jordan brought the score to 23-20. The Pronghorns scored 2 points to the Tigers 1 point, but when the score was 24-23, Jordan hit a perfect kill to pull out the win.

“Farson was a tough opponent and created some tough volleys,” Peterson said. “It was a competitive game for us.”

After the win against Farson-Eden, the Lady Tigers traveled to Fort Washakie to play the Lady Eagles in their home court. In their last match up, the Tigers had easily beat the Lady Eagles, but Peterson believed the Lady Eagles would improve over the season.

She was right as the sets were much closer this match.

With the Lady Eagles having the home court advantage, it took a bit for the Lady Tigers to find their groove. The Lady Tigers defensive skills are improving and continue to keep the ball in play longer.

Tigers’ Fagan, Jackson, Jordan and Sami Anderson have perfected their timing in setting the ball up for kills, the Tigers won the first set 25-20.

By the second set, Jackson and Jordan were killing machines at the front line. Pickett joined in with her kills and combined with Anderson’s aces at the serving line, the Tigers easily beat the Pronghorns 25-16 with Jordan earning the winning point.

In the third set, the Tigers left the Pronghorns scoreless at 5-0. By this time, the Lady Tigers have played 8 sets in two days and their skills at the net shows they just keep getting better and better.

They did not leave much room for the Lady Pronghorns to react, even though at one point a block knocked Jackson to the floor. The Lady Tigers just seemed to get stronger with each set and left the Lady Pronghorns licking their wounds at 25-6.

“We were able to beat both Fort Washakie and Farson on the road and those wins are important as we are learning how to better compete on the road,” Peterson said..

The Lady Tigers play Little Snake River Lady Rattlers at home on Friday. “We are excited to play at home against LSRV on Friday at 4:00 p.m., " Peterson said. “They are one of the best teams we have seen this season and promise great competition as they tend to expose our weaknesses and capitalize on our mistakes. We have been focusing on covering our hitters and blockers better and increasing our intensity so we are better prepared for them this time around.”

Peterson said they will have to start strong and remain focused throughout the match to remain disciplined with their game plan. The girls are looking forward to this match.