Encampment Lady Tigers Punch Ticket to State Volleyball

“It was a battle, but these girls are warriors and they proved they were ready for the fight,” Head Coach Janice Peterson said.

For the first time since 2017, the Encampment Lady Tigers are going to the State Competition in Casper this weekend. “It was an exciting tournament,” Janice Peterson said. “We played 17 games to earn third place and the girls found a way to win.”

Their only loss was to the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Lady Rattlers, who placed 1st in the 1A West Regional Tournament in Lander last weekend. By the time eight teams reach the Regional Tournament, the players are the top in their conference and the volleyball matches are expected to be close. With a few exceptions, that was the case over the weekend tournament.

Peterson said the team has been working through a lot of adversity this season and it proved to be an advantage for them, as they had to overcome some battles to earn the trip to state. Peterson said the team plans to make the Valley proud.

Encampment vs. Burlington

The Burlington Lady Huskies were ranked 2nd in the northwest conference, but the Tigers reduced them to ragdolls on the court Friday morning.

The first set did not look promising for Encampment as they were behind 4-12 at the first time out. It did not take long for the Lady Tigers to step up their play and tie the score at 21.

They tied again at 22 points. Sami Anderson hit a kill for a 23-22 lead. Another timeout was called and the teams continued their tied battle to 24 points.

Kyenna Jackson hit the winning point with a kill, 27-25 in the first set.

The second set was tied for 5 points before a block by Kristie Jordan spurred the Lady Tigers to take a 4-point lead. Encampment kept the lead until the Lady Huskies finally caught up and tied the score at 24. A timeout was called and the Lady Tigers came back to take the lead again when Jackson hit a kill. A ball handling error by Burlington ended the game 26-24.

The battle continued to be heated entering the 3rd set. The score remained close throughout the game, either being tied or within 2 points.

Errors by the Lady Tigers cost them the set in the end and they lost 22-25.

By the 4th set, Encampment was ready to end the battle. The Lady Tigers played one of their best sets of the season as they were scrappy in their play and showed no mercy against the Lady Huskies.

The Lady Tigers were ahead 6-3 when Jackson fell and seemed to twist her ankle. After a few minutes, and Heach Coach Janice Peterson checking on her, Jackson was ready to play.

The Tigers were pumped with adrenaline and went on a scoring spree with several well placed kills. The Tigers pounded on the Huskies with their hits and kills and had a 10-point lead 17-7. The Tigers continued their pouncing on the Huskies and with a return by Savannah Fagan from the back line, the Tigers won handily 25-12.

Encampment vs. Little Snake River

The set began with the Lady Tigers in the lead starting with an ace by Anderson. Encampment hung in with the Lady Rattlers for several points. A kill by Jackson and a block by Regina Stewart along with a couple of errors by LSRV gave the Lady Tigers the lead for short time at 7-6. From there the game remained tied, giving the Lady Rattlers a workout. Pickett and Jackson played a good defensive game keeping the ball in play against the LSRV.

Eckerly Pickett also got a kill while Jordan scored an ace at the serving line. Pickett and Stewart blocked the ball to tie the score at 11 points.

The Lady Rattlers were done toying with Encampment and they went on a scoring spree, leaving the Lady Tigers licking their wounds at 20-13. In a valiant effort to close in on LSRV, the Lady Tigers scored 3 more points, but it wasn’t enough. The Lady Rattlers slithered past Encampment, 16-25.

Despite the loss, the Lady Tigers started the 2nd set with a lead of 4-3. It was much like the first set, until LSRV took over and scored 11 unanswered points. A timeout was called with a 11-21 score and, when the Encampment returned to the court, Jackson blocked a hit to score their first point after the run by the Lady Rattlers.

Coach Peterson has said in the past that LSRV knew the Lady Tigers’ weak points, and the Lady Rattlers exploited them in the set. Every now and then Encampment scored a point, but not enough to catch up with the top-ranked team.

For a few minutes, the Lady Rattlers seemed to lose their focus. The Lady Tigers took advantage of it and scored 3 points, but it was too little-too late and LSRV won 16-25.

Encampment has played with a short bench all season, but the six main players on the team have proven they are up for the challenge. The other three players, Gentrie Meyer, a sophomore, and Ashley Finney and Greyson Goodman, freshmen, have gotten experience on the court. Meyer has shown a lot of improvement over the season in her serves and was called in during the tournament to serve and give the other players a short break.

The Lady Rattlers have a gift of hitting the ball into a hole and making the Encampment scramble for it. When in the heat of the game, it can be difficult to anticipate where the next hit will go.

By the third set, the Lady Tigers could not get it together and it didn’t take long for LSRV to have an 8-point lead. The Lady Rattlers had Encampment diving all over the court to try and return the ball, but they were struggling. The Lady Tigers succumbed to LSRV, 11-25..

Encampment vs. Dubois

The 1st set against the Dubois Lady Ram was close in the beginning and the end, but the Lady Tigers pulled a 4-point lead throughout most of the 1st set. The Lady Rams had trouble with their kills in keeping them inside the boundary line and this plagued them throughout the set.

A kill by Encampment motivated the Lady Tigers to score 4 unanswered points and lead 16-12. While the teams took turns scoring points, the Lady Rams could not close the score. Encampment was ahead 20-18 when a timeout was called. Jackson had two kills in between an error by the Rams and led 23-18. Encampment went out of bounds on a kill, then followed up with a point with a successful kill. Another timeout was called at 24-19.

When the win should have been an easy one, the Lady Tigers made a couple of errors and Dubois closed in by 2 points with a score of 24-22 when another timeout was called.

Encampment returned to the court with a hit by Jackson to score the winning point 25-22.

The Lady Tigers started the 2nd set on fire, as they had several kills to earn a 5-point lead before a timeout was called early in the game with Encampment leading 6-1.

The Lady Rams fought back and closed the score to 1 point at 7-6 when the second timeout was called. Jordan shined at the server's corner and scored five aces before hitting the sixth attempt out of bounds, pushing Encampment’s lead to 13-7. The teams traded points before the Lady Tigers took the lead after a volley ended in a point with a hit by Jordan. It was followed by a block by Stewart.

Encampment gave a point to the Lady Rams when a serve hit the net, but they immediately shook it off and Jordan’s hit scored another point for the Lady Tigers. The teams traded points, with Encampment keeping the lead. Jordan scored another 2 points before a block by the Lady Rams, followed by a kill from Pickett. A ball handling error by the Lady Rams gave the Tigers 1 more point followed by a kill by Savannah Fagan leaving the score 23-17. Dubois scored points because of errors on part of the Lady Tigers. The Lady Rams earned 1 point with a kill and tied the score at 23.

With two errors at the net, Encampment lost to the Lady Rams 23-25.

The third set started with a volley before Jackson’s hit went awry and Dubois scored the first point. Jackson absolved herself by hitting a point over the Lady Rams, followed by an ace from Stewart to tie the game at 2 points.

From then on, the set remained tied until the score was 15-15. Encampment took the lead with a kill by Anderson, an ace by Meyer, a tip by Pickett and another kill by Anderson. The Lady Tiger team seemed to come alive when Meyer came on the court to fill in to serve and Encampment won the set, 25-17.

In the 4th set, it looked as if the Lady Tigers had run out of steam. They were plagued with hitting kills out of bounds and had no score to the Dubois’ 5 points.

Encampment regrouped and began to catch up. A kill by Jackson, followed by a kill by Jordan and a block by Jackson brought the score to 3-5.

Fagan went to hit a return volley when the ball hit Jordan. Not to be deterred, the Lady Tigers shook off the error and soon had the score tied at 6 after a timeout.

Unfortunately, the National Federation State of High School Association (NFHS) went down and the rest of the match was not televised. The Tigers lost the fourth set 18-25, but came back to win the fifth set 16-14. The win put the team in the running for the state conference.

Encampment vs.

Riverside

Saturday afternoon, the Encampment played against the Riverside Lady Rebels from Basin. The Lady Rebels came into the 1A West Regional Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the northwest conference. They beat Saratoga on Friday, then lost to Cokeville later that day.

Cokeville went on to place 2nd in the Regional Tournament.

The Lady Rebels led the 1st set for several points. Despite kills and blocks by the Lady Tigers, the team could not get the advantage to take the lead on the court. At one time, Encampment was 5 points behind the Lady Rebels when a kill by Jackson started a scoring frenzy by the Lady Tigers. Encampment scored 7 consecutive points to gain the lead at 18-15 when a timeout was called.

The Lady Tigers came back from the timeout to score 7 points to Riverside’s 4 points at 23-18. From there Encampment left the Lady Rebels scoreless and won 25-18.

The Lady Tigers continued on their feeding frenzy and beat Riverside 25-21 in the second set.

In the 3rd set, the Lady Rebels took the lead and kept it throughout the set. The Lady Tigers got in a few licks and, after being behind 9 points, they closed the score by 3 points, 13-16, at a timeout. Jordan and Pickett scored points after the time out, but it was not enough to take the lead. Encampment continued to trail behind the Lady Rebels and lost 21-25.

In the 4th set, the Lady Tigers scored 5 unanswered points against the Rebels. Encampment maintained the lead until just before the first timeout when the Lady Rebels led 10-11.

The Lady Tigers tied the score and kept a lead of up to 5 points before Riverside fought back and tied the set 19-19 when a timeout was called.

The Lady Rebels scored 6 points to Encampment’s 4 points and won the set 22-25.

The fifth set seemed to be the Lady Tigers’ doom as Riverside scored 5 unanswered points.

Anderson scored three aces to make up for the unanswered points after the Lady Tigers got a chance to serve after an out by Riverside and the score was 4-5.

Jordan tied the score at 5 with a kill. The Lady Rebels took the lead with a tip before Jordan returned the favor with a tip to earn the serve. Stewart scored an ace, followed by a block by Jackson and a kill by Jackson. Stewart followed those points with another ace and the Lady Tigers were ahead 10-6 when a timeout was called.

Jackson scored 2 points with a block and an ace with the score 12-8. A hit by the Lady Tigers going into the net gave Riverside a point. Pickett hit a kill giving the Lady Tigers a lead of 13-9.

Pickett hits another kill, but it goes out and the score is 13-10.

Anderson hit a kill, followed by a kill by the Lady Rebels. Encampment hit the final kill to take the win 15-11.

The win put Encampment in 3rd place for Regionals and Riverside in 4th place for the Western Conference.

Mary Martin, who has the title of The Biggest Fan for the Encampment Tigers, thanked the Saratoga Panthers and LSRV Rattlers on Facebook for coming to cheer the Tigers on during the game.

Jordan had a 39.25% kill rate followed by Jackson with a 35.5%. Jordan led the team with 82 serve receptions and Pickett received 77 serves. Jordan had 79 digs. Anderson led the team with 13 aces and she and Stewart served 94%. Fagan had a 92% serve. Jackson had eight blocks and Meyer served 27 balls to help with the win.

The western conference winners will go up against the eastern conference winners beginning today in Casper at the State Tournament. In the eastern conference, Southeast from Yoder placed 1st, with Upton placing 2nd, Lingle-Fort Laramie at third and Niobrara County, from Lusk in the 4th place slot. The Encampment Lady Tigers will face off with the Upton Lady Bobcats today at 2:30 p.m. at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper.