Kylee Theesfield fires a hit across the net against a Burns opponent. The Lady Panthers lost matches to both Burns and Niobrara County over the weekend, which drops them to last place in the Southeast 2A Conference.
The past weekend was a tough one for the Saratoga Lady Panthers after they lost to two conference rivals.
The Lady Panthers lost to the Burns Broncs in three games (13-25, 10-25, 16-25) and the Niobrara County (Lusk) Lady Tigers in four games (21-25, 25-22, 22-25, 16-25).
On Friday night, the Lady Panthers were defeated soundly on their own court by a powerful Burns squad.
"We just lost focus," Lady Panther head coach Shayley Love said. "We have to start pushing through the entire game. We have to play past those first 12 points."
Love said Burns had an especially quality server on their team who gave the Lady Panthers troubles throughout the match.
"Our girls just got flustered," she said. "If we meet up with (Burns) again, we will have to be ready for that."
But the Lady Panthers had no answer for Burns, who defeated Saratoga with an average margin of victory of 8 points. Saratoga was led by Kylie Theesfeld and Meredith Lincoln, who both scored 4 kills a piece throughout the three-game match.
Burns advanced to a 14-4 overall record and sits in second place in the Southeast 2A conference with a 4-1 record.
The Lady Panthers hosted Niobrara County on Saturday.
Though Saratoga prevented their fourth sweep in a row, the Lady Panthers lost two close games to the Lady Tigers. For Love, who used to coach at Niobrara County, it was an exceedingly disappointing loss for her squad.
"It was a heart-breaker," she said. "I know this team is better than they are playing."
Saratoga had previously beat Niobrara County 3-2 on Sept. 27.
Leading the Panthers statistically in the game against the Lady Tigers was Mati Love with 8 kills and Sarah Burton with 12 assists.
With the losses this weekend, the Lady Panthers drop to 9-13-1 overall and 1-5 in the 2A Southeast Conference. They are currently tied with Niobrara County for last place in the conference.
The road will only get more difficult for the Lady Panthers as they take on Southeast (Yoder) Cyclones. The Cyclones hold the top spot in the 2A Southeast Conference with a 5-0 conference record and 13-2 overall record.
"They will be tough. We have to work on our defense," Love said. "They play different than everyone else in that they like to get up and hit the ball."
She added her team will have to work on their blocking before facing the Cyclones.
That match will begin at 1 p.m. on Oct. 18 at Saratoga High School Gym.
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