Volleyball players headed to regionals

Hot Springs County High School's Lady Cats had their last two games before the Regional Tournament this past week, dropping both games in straight sets to Buffalo and Douglas.

The girls went head to head with Buffalo in an away game last Friday with Buffalo coming out on top, 3-0.

"Buffalo is the number one team in our conference and our girls really gave them a run on Friday night," head coach Shannon Hill said. "We stayed with Buffalo at the beginning of games one and two, but they pulled away towards the end of each game.

"In the third game we went on an early run and stayed in the lead the whole game until it was tied 24-24. Our girls fought hard the entire match and played tough defense against Buffalo's hard hitters.

"In the end, it just came down to us not being able to execute with the ball."

Standouts in Fridays game included Makayla George with five kills and three blocks, Kelly Johnson with three kills and two blocks, and Lizzy Lofink with three kills and four aces.

The Lady Cats turned right around and played Douglas Saturday afternoon.

"Douglas is the number one team in the east conference," Hill said. "Both teams were tough teams to end our regular season with, however, our girls came out ready to play in the first game.

"We stuck with them for a while and then they pulled ahead in the first game and we lost our momentum, losing 25-7 in the second game. We stepped up in the third game, which tends to be a trend with our team, and played well until the final point.

"Unfortunately, we have been unable to string together three solid games against our tougher opponents. Our girls are very capable of beating teams such as Buffalo and Douglas as long as we can finish the ball and keep the other team from going on runs."

Lofink led the team with six kills against Douglas, followed by Mary Ryan with an additional six kills and one block. Maggie Ryan dropped for eight digs and popped over a single ace. Haley McDermott had 14 assists on Saturday along with three aces.

The girls will be in Rawlins Friday and Saturday for the Regional Tournament.

"We have a tough match going into regionals," Hill said, "with our first opponent being Douglas at 12:30 Friday. If we win, we would play at 4 p.m. Friday evening, and if we lose, we play at 10:45 Saturday morning.

"We have a great chance to make it to state, if we play with the passion and the grit I know our girls have. This is a huge weekend for them and I have all the faith that they can be successful and prove we can play with 3A teams."