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
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