A Tough Homecoming for Lady Miners

The Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) High School Lady Miners volleyball team had a busy homecoming week, hosting three teams, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The Lady Miners had some great moments in some of their volleys, and won their first set of the season, but they walked away from homecoming with no wins.

Their first game was against the Saratoga Lady Panthers, arguably a serious contender for a state championship this season.

The first set, the Lady Panthers jumped up by six points before the Lady Miners got a point. The HEM team couldn't seem to find a consistent rhythm. The Lady Panthers were in control the entire set and the score was 25-7 in favor of Saratoga.

To the home crowd's delight the second set had the Lady Miners playing the Lady Panthers even in the early stages, but when the score was a one point difference in favor of Saratoga, there was a volley that went back and forth for a few minutes. The Lady Miners lost the point and the momentum swung to the Lady Panthers and they won handily 25-8.

The last set had the Lady Panthers get ahead early and for a bit of time as Saratoga pulled ahead, it seemed the Lady Miners were going to only score five points. Then there was a streak of long volleys between the teams which the Lady Miners won.

After winning four points in a row, the Lady Panthers finished up winning 25-9.

"Overall I feel we played very well," HEM head coach Hannah Williams said. "We knew when going up against Saratoga that they are a really tough team and well coached with a great program. We knew there would be a lot of big hitters on their team and we just don't have a lot of height on our team."

Williams said although no loss feels good, she felt losing to Saratoga was nothing for her team to feel bad about. She saw some good things while the girls played.

"We had some really good blocks and coming into the game we knew we had to block." Williams said. "Justine (Widdison) had some great blocks and some good touches as did Mackenzie (Priest), both of our middles had a good game. They exceeded my expectations."

The next day the Lady Miners faced the Rock River Lady Longhorns in their first conference game. The Lady Miners had some good moments in their sets, but the Longhorns got ahead each set and the Lady Miners could not catch up.

HEM scored more points in the two of the sets compared to the day before, scoring 12 points to the Lady Longhorns 25 and in the third set the Lady Miners again got 12. The second set they scored seven points. The HEM team tried to shake off the two losses as they faced the Guernsey-Sunrise Lady Vikings.

The Lady Miners did their best and the scores showed it. Although the HEM team lost 3-1, all the set were close. The Lady Vikings won the first set 25-21. The second set they won only by two points 25-23. The Lady Miners won their first of the season taking the third set 25-23. The last set for the Lady Miners was well fought, but the Lady Vikings caused a delay in the game because of a rotation violation and for almost 10 minutes the game was halted. In the end, the Lady Vikings prevailed 25-19.

Williams addressed the delay of game in the fourth set.

"The delay of game for 10 minutes and the rotation violations caused a loss of momentum we had going until that point," Williams said. "It is hard to come back from not playing for 10 minutes. I really believe if the delay had not happened it would have been a different game. But still the girls fought to the best of their abilities given the situation."

Williams said having four games under their belt will help them as the season continues.

The next team the Lady Miners face is Southeast on Saturday in Southeast.