Lady Panthers score double victory

The Saratoga High School girls volleyball team celebrated a victorious playing streak last weekend, scoring two winning matches that both featured three-game takedowns.

The Lady Panthers (14,7) (4,1) stomped Lusk’s Lady Tigers 25-13, 25-17 and 26-24 in a home match Saturday, after a triumph of 25-10, 25-13 and 25-16 over Wyoming Indian the day before. Coach Shayley Love said she has noticed her team is really starting to gel on the court.

“Our girls are coming together right now, and I really like the way they are understanding that we have to do what is best for the team,” she said. “Adjustments may have to be made during the game, but that is to help us be as successful as possible. I’m not surprised that our girls keep winning, and this is when we need to start playing our best volleyball and have it carry over to tournament time. I’m very proud of these girls for playing much bigger than they are.”

Love said it felt great to see her girls rebound in the third game. After Saratoga won the first two games, it looked like Lusk could easily win the third. The Panthers pulled ahead to win the game 26-24.

“It is great to see these girls refocus and take care of the job they set out to do,” Love said. “We lost our composure a bit against Lusk, but were able to get things back together to finish. We were just making sure we didn’t get flustered and start making mistakes. Lusk has the potential to have a great team and is struggling a bit right now, but they have the athletes to do great things.”

Even with wide leads in the first two games, Love said she didn’t want to discount the playing power of the Lusk Tigers.

“I can’t say I thought we ‘owned’ it, but I knew our team was ready to play and was ready to take care of business,” she said. “We have battled some sickness lately, but each of these girls pushed through that. We are in pretty good shape so I wasn’t worried about them getting too tired. I liked the way the girls kept their composure and passed the ball, and we had some really great plays at the net that helped us to gain control at times.”

Love said several of her girls stepped up to the plate and showed individual improvement, including newcomer Justine Fourman.

“Heather Oxford has been hitting and blocking very well, and Justine Fourman stepped up and did some great things at the net for us as well,” she said. “Justine and Mati Love both served 100 percent, which is very important, but Shelby had some great hard serves that gave us an advantage. Justine did a great job playing all the way around for us, and with this being her first year I was very proud of how she performed.”

In addition to Oxford, Love said she was also proud of her other two powerhouse seniors, Shelby McGuire and Nikki Pacheco.

“These three seniors are giving 110 percent each game, and I really like their leadership and dedication,” she said. “I expect everyone to be mentally focused and ready when we step on the floor, and we did a great job of this.”

Love also gave credit to her JV girls for playing a such a good game Saturday. The JV Panthers lost with 25-9, 24-26, 22-25, but still played hard during the game.

“I really feel all of these girls are starting to come on,” Love said. “They are doing some really great things and coming together as a team. I don’t want to choose just one athlete because they all are improving each week.”

After an additional three-game victory Friday, Love also had great things to say about the Wyoming Indian game.

“Wyoming Indian has a new coach this season, and I think she is doing some good things with her team,” she said. “You can never count them out to come on and put a match together. It was also Homecoming for them so depending on the dynamics in the gym things can go either way. We were able to put everything together to get a win, and though we played a much slower pace game than we like, we got the job done.”

With the Homecoming match now on the horizon, Love said her girls are ready to battle Encampment’s Lady Tigers in a tough rival matchup. The match begins at 4 p.m., Friday at Saratoga High School.

“I wouldn’t say I am nervous, but excited to play Encampment again,” Love said. “Also, we start playing conference teams for the second time around, and I really look forward to the girls excelling and getting a good seed at regional tournament. I just look for improvement each week, and I want them to continue having the same confidence each game. We also need to stay sharp on defense and take care of our serving.”

9/28

vs. Niobrara County (Lusk)

25-13, 25-17, 26-24, Win

Shelby McGuire: served 10 for 11, 6 aces, 7 kills, 12 assists, 11 digs

Veronica Lincoln: served 9 for 10, 18 digs

Heather Oxford: served 6 for 8, 8 kills, 2 blocks, 17 digs

Kelsie Samson: 1 kill, 3 digs

Mati Love: served 11 for 11, 3 aces, 4 kills, 12 assists, 7 digs

Nikki Pacheco: served 7 for 8, 1 ace, 2 kills, 4 digs

Justine Fourman: served 8 for 8, 2 aces, 5 kills, 2 blocks, 16 digs

9/27/13 vs. Wyoming Indian

25-10, 25-13, 25-16, Win

Shelby McGuire: served 17 for 18, 3 aces, 4 kills, 7 assists, 17 digs

Veronica Lincoln: served 5 for 5, 8 digs

Heather Oxford: served 16 for 18, 1 ace, 6 kills, 1 block, 11 digs

Kelsie Samson: 2 kills, 3 digs

Mati Love: served 8 for 9, 1 ace, 7 kills, 7 assists, 9 digs

Nikki Pacheco: served 15 for 15, 2 aces, 1 kill, 14 digs

Haley Soles: served 9 for 10, 5 kills, 1 assist, 3 digs

9/24/13 vs. HEM

25-12, 27-25, 25-7, Win

Shelby McGuire: served 15 for 15, 1 ace, 6 kills, 5 assists, 13 digs

Veronica Lincoln: served 6 for 6, 5 digs

Heather Oxford: served 15 for 15, 1 ace, 7 kill, 21 digs

Mati Love: served 17 for 17, 2 aces, 1 kill, 14 assists, 9 digs

Nikki Pacheco: served 8 for 11, 2 aces, 3 kills, 9 digs

Haley Soles: served 8 for 11, 1 ace, 4 kills, 1 block, 7 digs

9/21/13

Lusk Tournament

Pool Play vs. Sundance

21-17, 21-17 Win

Shelby McGuire: served 5 for 6, 1 ace, 2 kills, 7 assists, 5 digs

Veronica Lincoln: served 4 for 4, 6 digs

Heather Oxford: served 5 for 5, 6 kills, 3 blocks, 1 assist, 12 digs

Kelsie Samson: 2 kills

Mati Love: served 10 for 10, 1 ace, 1 kill, 6 assists, 3 digs

Nikki Pacheco: served 7 for 7, 2 kills, 2 digs

Haley Soles: served 7 for 7, 1 kill, 6 digs

vs. Lingle

8-21, 23-21, 10-15, Loss

Shelby McGuire: served 7 for 8, 3 aces, 1 kill, 3 assists, 2 digs

Veronica Lincoln: served 4 for 4, 10 digs

Heather Oxford: served 7 for 7, 5 kills, 3 digs

Mati Love: served 6 for 7, 1 ace, 1 kill, 7 assists

Nikki Pacheco: served 5 for 5, 1 kill, 1 dig

Haley Soles: served 2 for 4, 2 digs

vs. Lusk

21-23, 21-19, 15-9, Win

Shelby McGuire: served 13 for 13, 4 kills, 7 assists, 8 digs

Veronica Lincoln: served 5 for 5, 2 digs

Meredith Lincoln: 1 kill, 1 assist, 2 digs

Heather Oxford: served 6 for 7, 1 ace, 8 kills, 2 blocks, 19 digs

Kelsie Samson: Served 1 for 1, 2 kills, 1 dig

Mati Love: served 9 for 9, 1 ace, 2 kills, 12 assists, 3 digs

Nikki Pacheco: served 9 for 11, 1 dig

Haley Soles: served 13 for 13, 2 aces, 6 kills, 1 block, 10 digs

Gold Bracket Play

vs. Hulett

25-23, 17-25, 11-15, Loss

Shelby McGuire: served 13 for 14, 4 kills, 15 assists, 13 digs

Veronica Lincoln: served 3 for 4, 8 digs

Heather Oxford: served 4 for 5, 7 kills, 2 blocks, 19 digs

Kelsie Samson: 3 kills, 2 blocks, 2 digs

Mati Love: served 6 for 6, 6 kills, 4 assists, 7 digs

Nikki Pacheco: served 11 for 12, 1 ace, 4 assists, 5 digs

Haley Soles: served 11 for 12, 1 ace, 3 kills, 1 block, 6 digs

vs. Lingle

15-25, 25-21, 14-16, Loss

Shelby McGuire: served 6 for 8, 1 ace, 4 kills, 4 assists, 8 digs

Veronica Lincoln: served 10 for 10, 5 digs

Heather Oxford: served 8 for 10, 1 ace, 6 kills, 5 blocks, 16 digs

Kelsie Samson: 1 kill, 2 digs

Nikki Pacheco: served 6 for 8, 2 kills, 4 digs

Mati Love: served 5 for 6, 3 kills, 13 assists, 6 digs

Haley Soles: served 7 for 10, 5 kills, 5 digs

9/20/13 at Burns

25-23, 25-23, 25-15, Win

Shelby McGuire: served 13 for 16, 4 aces, 2 kills, 10 assists, 12 digs

Veronica Lincoln: didn’t play due to back injury

Heather Oxford: served 3 for 4, 14 kills, 2 blocks, 14 digs

Kelsie Samson: served 6 for 7, 1 kill, 11 digs

Mati Love: served 9 for 11, 2 aces, 4 kills, 13 assists, 4 digs

Nikki Pacheco: served 15 for 16, 2 aces, 1 kill, 16 digs

Haley Soles: served 15 for 15, 3 kills, 17 digs

9/17/13 at Encampment

25-21, 17-25, 16-25, 19-25, Loss

Shelby McGuire: served 20 for 22, 2 aces, 6 kills, 15 assists, 4 digs

Veronica Lincoln: served 6 for 6, 12 digs

Heather Oxford: served 13 for 13, 2 aces, 17 kills, 8 blocks, 10 digs

Mati Love: served 12 for 13, 6 kills, 14 assists, 7 digs

Nikki Pacheco: served 19 for 19, 1 ace, 1 assist, 10 digs

Haley Soles: served 7 for 8, 1 ace, 4 kills, 12 digs

JV Scores

9/27/13 against Lusk

JV Game

25-9, 24-26, 22-25, Loss

“C” game

25-20, 21-25, 25-22, Win

9/20/13 at Burns

JV Game

20-25, 25-11, 10-15, Loss

“C” Game

25-23, 25-18, Win

9/17/13 at Encampment

JV Game

25-13, 25-15, Win