Lady Tigers take tournament

"Winning a junior high school volleyball tournament is a big deal," Encampment Junior High School Volleyball Head Coach Sammy Baysinger said, "but to finally bring it back after 23 years makes it extra special."

The Encampment Junior High Volleyball-A-team went into the tournament Saturday as the No. 2 seed, Saratoga Middle School Volleyball Team was the No. 1 seed.

Encampment had the home court advantage. "The girls were very determined to bring (the trophy) back to Encampment and they wanted to do it on their home court," Baysinger said. "I think it's an achievement these girls will always to be to remember and say they were a part of it."

The tournament consisted of five teams, Saratoga, Encampment, Little Snake River, HEM (Hanna Elk Mountain Medicine Bow), and Wamsutter.

With Saratoga coming in as the No. 1 seed, they had a bye and then beat HEM to earn their spot in the championship game.

Encampment's A team would beat Little Snake River 25-15 and 25-8 to move into the championship game against Saratoga.

The two Valley teams played with high school intensity as they battled it out on the court for the championship match.

Saratoga had a strong outside hitter in Melissa Pinedo and a strong center hitter with Tiffany Bauer, and Encampment had to work hard to get past them. In the first set, Saratoga scored the first two points before Encampment answered and moved ahead 13-6. Saratoga would only be able to score 3 points before Encampment pulled ahead to win 25-9.

The second set wasn't so easy for the Encampment Lady Tigers, as Saratoga tied the score after Encampment took a 10-5 lead.

Saratoga took the lead and scored 10 points to Encampments 5 points.

The Lady Panthers won the second set 25-17.

The third set had the fans on both sides cheering and, at times, it was difficult to hear the referee's whistle.

The third set was tight through most of the set as each team worked for the win. The Lady Tigers finally pulled ahead after an 18-all tie and emerged the winner of the tournament with a 25-19 final score.

"This group of girls has always been big on setting and accomplishing the goals they set," said Baysinger. "We went into the tournament second because we lost the coin toss for first earlier in the week, so they wanted to go out and prove to themselves they could be the No. 1 team."

Before the championship game, the Tigers' goal was to play fearlessly, Baysinger said. "That was their word for the tournament games."

"I told them in order to win, they had to play without fear and not play it safe. If you are the team who plays it safe and is scared to take the hard swings or go for the balls most think are unplayable, it makes it hard to win," Baysinger said. It was obvious on the court the girls were listening to their coach as they dove to return a ball back to the Saratoga Panthers' side of the court.

"I attribute our success to no only the hard work put in this season by the girls, but tot the three seasons prior," Baysinger said. "I've always had the blessings of having great girls with amazing work ethic since I started coaching four seasons ago."

Baysinger has been coaching Noelle Peterson and Paige Powell for all four years. The eighth graders started as fifth graders and had an opportunity play with Alyssa Barkhurst, Cassidy Little and Mackenzie Powell, who are now starters on the Encampment High School volleyball team. "(The girls) have always had great examples of hard work and leadership," Baysinger said.

Baysinger said she is very blessed to be a part of the Encampment volleyball program. "When Coach Robin (O'Leary) asked me to be a part of the program, our goal was that I teach the basic fundamentals and teach them to compete so that when Robin gets them in high school, she doesn't have to take time to reteach the basic fundamentals." Working together with O'Leary has allowed the high school girls to fine tune their talent and compete at the high school level, Baysinger said.

"I enjoy seeing girls I coach in junior high go and be so successful in high school," Baysinger said.