Lady Panthers in sweep mode

Fresh off a three-match win over Pine Bluffs, the Lady Panthers pulled another sweeping victory Saturday against HEM’s Lady Miners.

The Panthers took down the Lady Miners with match scores of 25-23, 25-21 and 25-20, repeating Friday’s success against the Lady Hornets, which resulted in 25-23, 25-12 and 25-20. Coach Shayley Love said she was impressed with her girls’ playing level, and also with HEM’s tough fight and 2013 team, led by coach Jackie Jones.

“Hanna only improves each time we play, and Coach Jones puts together a great team each year,” she said. “Our girls are learning to push through and finish a match. I was confident in my girls’ ability, but I didn’t want to underestimate HEM. I wasn’t sure we were going to win all three, since our serving was weak and we had mental lapses on defense.”

The Lady Panthers proved there was no slowing them down, even when HEM really turned on the juice and started catching up and even tying near the end of the third match. Love said that with enough focus and determination, she knew her girls could overcome and successfully sink all three games.

“Volleyball is such a mental game and the momentum can change at any time, but as long as we stayed focused I knew we could pull through,” she said. “We definitely had some mental lapses, but the girls played to win. They could have done some things a bit better, but it’s early in the season. We don’t want to be perfect right now.”

Love said she was proud that all three seniors, setter Shelby McGuire, middle-hitter Heather Oxford and right-side player Nikki Pacheco, continued to lead by example, despite all undergoing mild injuries.

“All have some kind of injury that has been nagging at them, but they are determined to lead this team and they pushed through some of that,” she said. “I expect all of our girls to improve each game. It can be something small, but improvement is our goal.”

With two successful games in a row, Love said she had much to be proud of with all her players.

“Overall I felt good about how the girls performed over the weekend,” she said. “They are coming together as a team and that is important.”

As for right now, Love said her main hitter is Heather Oxford, but that Shelby McGuire and Mati Love have also been doing some great things at the net. She said she also looked forward to her freshmen and new players continuing to handle the quickness of high school volleyball.

“I’m impressed with how our young players are adjusting to a faster speed of volleyball, and adjusting to our defense and expectations at this level,” Love said. “Defense and serving could have been better, but we will work on that.”

The team’s next weekend games are against Southeast at Yoder Friday (3 p.m. for JV/4:15 p.m. for varsity) and against Wyoming Indian at home Saturday (12 p.m. for JV/1:15 p.m. for varsity). Love said she is excited for both games, especially the conference matchup against Southeast.

“I’m excited to play another conference game on Friday, so we can see how we will match up this season,” she said.

Varsity Scores

@ Pine Bluffs: 25-23, 25-21, 25-20 (Saratoga won all three)

Vs. Hanna: 25-15, 25-20, 25-23 (Saratoga won all three)

Stats @ Pine Bluffs

Friday, Sept. 6

Shelby McGuire: served 17 for 18, 2 aces, 8 kills, 6 assists, 7 digs

Veronica Lincoln: served 4 for 5, 22 digs

Heather Oxford: served 5 for 7, 1 ace, 8 kills, 1 block, 5 digs

Kelsie Samson: 2 kills, 5 digs

Mati Love: served 12 for 12, 3 aces, 2 kills, 6 assists, 3 digs

Nikki Pacheco: served 12 for 15, 5 digs

Haley Soles: served 8 for 8, 1 kill, 1 assist, 5 digs

Hanna at Saratoga

Saturday, Sept. 7

Shelby McGuire: served 13 for 15, 5 aces, 3 kills, 12 assists, 9 digs

Veronica Lincoln: served 11 for 11, 1 ace, 1 assist, 10 digs

Heather Oxford: served 6 for 8, 9 kills, 2 blocks, 8 digs

Kelsie Samson: 2 kills, 1 dig

Mati Love: served 12 for 12, 1 ace, 3 kills, 6 assists, 6 digs

Nikki Pacheco: served 15 for 17, 4 aces, 1 assist, 5 digs

Haley Soles: served 7 for 8, 11 digs