Lady Panthers prepared for invite

The Saratoga Lady Panthers volleyball team is readying itself for the 2017 season, and is preparing to host its first matches of the year Friday and Saturday at the Saratoga Invite.

As teams from across the Valley and state roll into town for the invite, including defending division champion Rattlers from Little Snake River school in Baggs, the Panthers will be looking to capitalize on home court advantage and get off to a good start for the season.

Kaylee Love, the team's head coach said the team worked over the summer at summer camp where they competed against big teams from places like Fort Collins.

"They got that play together and I'm really impressed with where we're at physically and skill wise with this group," she said. "They seem to be further along than other teams we've had in the past as a whole."

Like Valley rival Encampment, Love is not sure of the composition of her team yet, saying even though she has good ideas of players skills and aptitudes, more practice sessions will be needed to determine the correct lineup for the team and positions for the players.

"She does a really good job of teaching the fundamentals to the girls," Bartlett said of Love. "She's active in making sure their grades are good and she's active in making sure they get what they need to go out and have the opportunity to win games."

Love said the basic fundamentals of the team seem very solid at the present time, and she is looking forward to ramping up the team's competitive skills.

"They're a fairly young team as well, and they'll have a good learning year this year," Bartlett said.

"I'm really excited for this group to see what they have, and getting out on the court for our home tournament will give us a good indicator of what we have to work with and I'm really excited to see them step out here," Love said.

The Lady Panthers' first game of the season will be this weekend at the Saratoga Invite, to be held on Friday and Saturday.