Makayla Wilder jumps to hit the volleyball back into the Farson-Eden's court during the first set Friday at the Saratoga Invite Tournament. Teammates Cassidy Little and Courtney James are ready to back her up. Twelve varsity teams attended the tournament at the Saratoga Middle High School gym this weekend while 12 junior varsity teams played at the Platte Valley Community Center gym.
The Encampment Lady Tigers had a busy weekend, taking on five teams including two 2A teams and a 4A Freshmen "A" team.
Even though Encampment lost to Niobrara County, it took three sets to take the Tigers down Friday night. Encampment's first match at the Saratoga Invitational Friday was against Wyoming Indian Lady Chiefs. The first set was 26-24 with the second set 25-17.
"I love these tournaments," Lady Tigers Head Coach Robin O'Leary said. "It gives the team a chance make mistakes and fix them right away in the next game, rather than wait a week."
O'Leary said the team was doing a good job of fixing their mistakes over the weekend.
Next for the Lady Tigers was conference rival Farson-Eden and they won that match in two sets, 25-23 and 25-21.
Encampment played against Niobrara County Friday evening and won the first set 25-22. Niobrara County won the next two sets 20-25 and 18-25.
Saturday morning, the Lady Tigers were matched up against school district rival HEM. Encampment easily pulled off the win in the first set 25-12, but were upset by the Lady Miners 19-25. In the third set, the Lady Tigers fought hard to make sure they pulled the win 25-15.
In the final game of the tourney for the Lady Tigers, Encampment beat the Laramie Freshmen 25-5 and 25-14.
After the game Friday night, O'Leary told the team their serves were terrible. "I said 'either improve your serve or serve underhand." O'Leary said that seemed to motivate them Saturday, as they were serving much better.
McKenzie Powell was a stand-out player this past weekend according to O'Leary. "She's hitting well, she's passing well and playing defense," O'Leary said. "Her leadership on the floor is awesome."
"She is super supportive of her teammates and a good teammate," O'Leary said.
Powell was able to make several kills, blocks and digs over the course of the weekend.
Powell said she was happy to get lots of playing time and to see a lot of different teams. She likes using the playing time to adjust and change so that she and her team can get better and the team works on every skill every day to get better.
O'Leary said these tournaments helps her team prepare for regionals and state as they see teams they normally don't play during the season.
"We have to try and adjust our defense and our offense to a team we haven't seen," O'Leary said. "That is what we have to do at regionals and state."
The girls studied the other teams during their off time, O'Leary said.
The Lady Tigers play Little Snake River Friday night in Encampment and then play at the HEM Invite on Saturday.
The Snake River Lady Rattlers have some good outside hitters, O'Leary said. The Tigers are concentrating on their defense this week. Powell said she believes, "We need to play intense and play hard and believe in ourselves."
"I am pleased with the progress so far," O'Leary said. "They have a long way to go, but we have plenty of time to get there."
Click on "EHS Stats" for the Encampment Lady Tigers Tournament statistics.
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