Lady Cats show perseverance

The Lady Bobcats played in Cody last weekend. Head Coach Shannon Hill said the team experienced some growing pains during the match.

“We played some tough Montana schools and played them very well at certain points,” she said. “We just needed to cut down our errors in order to get a ‘W.’”

Hill said the Lady Bobcats started out with Miles City.

“We played them tight the whole time, but just couldn’t pull out the win,” she said.

Scores were (with the Lady Bobcats listed first): 25-27; 25-22; 14-25; and 22-25.

Makayla George and Maggie Ryan led with kills in five each and Lizzy Lofink added three aces while Mary Ryan and George both added two blocks, Hill said.

Hill said they ended Friday with a long match against Glendive, a five set match. The scores were as follows: 23-25; 25-21; 20-25; 25-15; and 15-6.

“Our girls showed some perseverance and grit during this match as we had to make some quick changes at the beginning of game 4 when we were down 6-1,” she said. “We then came back to win that game 25-15 and finishing well in the fifth game. This was a fun match to watch as a coach because I got to see my girls adjust and adapt and it showed their true athleticism as they had to play different positions they weren’t used to. Also, the fact that they showed what being a true teammate is all about.”

Hill said she was proud after that match. George led with ten kills and Lofink followed closely with nine. Shaynie Bauer and Maggie Ryan added three aces a piece. George was huge at the net putting away 3.5 blocks.

Hill said Saturday matches were a different story. They played two Montana teams from Hardin and Billings Central.

“There were glimpses of the great team we have the potential of becoming, but it was overshadowed by our unforced errors,” she said. “We dropped both matches in three games. “

Hardin scores were 15-25; 16-25; 24-26.

Hill said George led at the net with five kills and 3.5 blocks. Haley McDermott had two aces.

Billings Central scores were 12-25; 23-25; and 10-25.

“We had a hard time executing during this match and had too many errors to make any sort of run on this team,” Hill said.

Setter McDermott led in kills with five and Maggie Ryan had two aces.

“We were mostly playing defense this match with three players leading our back row — Maggie with 20 digs, Shaynie with 19 digs and Lizzy with 16 digs,” Hill said. “We were very good at getting the ball up and in play, we just need to be able to put the ball away.”

The team heads to Rawlins on Friday for the 3A tournament where they will see Douglas, Powell and Lander.

“We will then get seeded on Saturday and hopefully see some good match-ups,” Hill said. “I am looking forward to bouncing back from our Saturday play.”