Lady Cats go to the net against Rawlins at home Saturday

The Lady Cats volleyball team had a busy weekend hosting the Wheatland Lady Bulldogs on Friday evening and the Torrington Lady Trailblazers on Saturday afternoon.

Coach Shannon Hill said it took the girls one match to get things going, but once they did, the girls played great.

Wheatland came out with some tough serves and the Cats were struggling a bit with their serves and receive passing during the first game, but once they got a handle on things they were able to set up the offense and get some kills in to get things going.

"The fourth game was very intense and entertaining for the crowd," Hill said. "I was very proud of how my girls pulled through at the end of the fourth game."

The Cats and the Bulldogs were tied 24-24 and Hill had the girls focus in and score the final two points off great plays by Kelly Johnson and Mary Ryan.

Ryan played great at the net, racking up 14 kills for the night. Johnson had five kills and the middles did their job blocking with Sesi Jensen having three stuff blocks. Haley McDermott added 20 set assists and four aces for the match.

Thermopolis came out on top, 18-25, 25-18, 25-16 amd 26-24.

Hill said the girls came out flat against the Trailblazers on Saturday, but picked it up toward the end, despite losing in three sets.

"Torrington is a tough team that runs a fast paced game," Hill said. "After our second game I just told the girls that they had to make a conscious choice to step up their game and play at their level."

And they did just that for the third game, leading most of the way, but unfortunately allowing them to go on a three point run the Lady Cats just couldn't catch up to.

"Our team has so much potential," Hill said, "we just need to make the choice to rise up to that potential, which I saw during most of our play in the third game.

"We have tough opponents this week in Worland and here against Rawlins (Saturday), but I know our girls will step up to the challenge.

Mary Ryan had five kills during Saturday's match and Kelly Johnson had three solo blocks.

Final scores against Torrington were 7-25, 17-25 and 21-25.

The Lady Cats will take on the Worland Lady Warriors, in Worland, on Thursday (tonight) at 7 p.m. Saturday will see them at home against the Rawlins Lady Outlaws, at 2 p.m.