Lady Cats show their strengths, potential during busy week

The 3A varsity Lady Bobcats volleyball team fell to the Douglas in a close 3-2 battle last Thursday at home.

Finals scores were 23-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-14 and 15-9.

“We came out strong vs Douglas, the best I have seen our girls play in awhile, but our fatigue got the best of us in the end,” said coach Shannon Hill.

She added, “Having a two week break after putting so much time in was difficult and set us back a little bit just with conditioning.

“The girls proved that they are competitive and they were so fun to watch play together as team. I saw a lot of potential Thursday night and I think the girls not only proved to the fans, but also to themselves that they can compete,” said Hill.

Stats: Caydence Becher 1 ace, 37 assists; Julie Johnson 2 aces, 12 kills, 15 digs; Lexi Overfield 3 aces, 11 kills; Mariah Brooks 14 kills; Kamry Bowman 10 kills, 17 digs and Jayci Basse 15 digs.

The Lady Cats went on the road Friday and lost to Newcastle 3-0, with final scores of 25-19,25-23 and 25-19.

“This was a difficult turn around for us after a big night Thursday, so our varsity had a tough time coming off the bus and being ready to play.  Really we just couldn’t put a ball away at the net so that hurt us the most vs Newcastle,” 

According to Hill, JV and Freshman played great and consistent and both teams got the win. 

Stats: Becher 2 aces, 9 digs, 13 assists; Johnson 4 kills, 8 digs; Overfield 4 aces, 7 kills, 2.5 blocks and Bowman 8 digs.

On Saturday the Lady Cats traveled to Tongue River where they lost 12-25, 25-21, 25-23, 13-25 and 12-15.

“After staying the night in Gillette and then traveling the next morning, it took varsity one game to warm up.  After that first game, we started to play like the team I saw Thursday night and we really took it to Tongue River,” said Hill.

She added, “Again, I think fatigue got the most of us, because stat-wise we matched up pretty evenly with Tongue River. Our girls played well as a team and rallied when they got behind,” 

Hill said, “We were missing senior Mariah Brooks for both Friday and Saturday’s matches so we had two underclassmen step up and fill that position and both athletes did a great job stepping into that role and playing hard.” 

Stats: Becher 8 digs, 24 assists; Johnson 2 aces, 11 kills; Overfield 2 aces, 9 kills; Basse 9 digs; Bowman 6 kills, 7 digs and Saraiya Sosa 3 aces.

“Overall it was a great weekend to get us back in the swing of things and although we have some ground to make up from the shutdown, this group is capable of great things this season,” said Hill.

“I encourage everyone to get out and watch a volleyball match when they can because across all teams, we have athletes that work hard and are improving with each match. This group of seniors that we have does a great job of leading by example and through their competitiveness. It’s nice to have a team full of great players that when they make an error, we all know that it won’t happen again,” added Hill. 

Hill finished up by saying “We have multiple threats not just at the net with Johnson, Overfield, Bowman and Brooks, but also our ball control in the back court with Basse and Sosa is a huge positive for our team.  Becher does a great job running the court and feeding the girls great sets, so we will be a fun little team to watch this season.”