Order on the court

The first part of the season is officially in the books for the Glenrock High School Lady Herders volleyball. The team is back in their home gym and gearing up for conference play with the final early-season tournament in the books. The Lady Herders are sitting at 6–10–2 on the season after a 2–2–2 run in Big Horn.
“I think we did really well considering we’re still having to move around, we had an injury so we weren’t able to play one of our starting outside hitters, so I was still shuffling and moving girls,” head coach Meghan Anderson said. “Dealing with injuries early on in the season was hard for them so they all had to adjust, play different spots and re-learn some stuff.”
The injured outside hitter Anderson mentioned was junior Amanda Shillcox. Also sitting out of practice with an injury was middle hitter Skylar Harford. On the first day of the tournament, Sept. 13, the Lady Herders faced off with Moorcroft High School, Wind River High School and Tongue River High School.
All of the matches on Sept. 13, the first day of the tournament, went to only two sets. Glenrock walked away from the day with one loss and a pair of ties. Their first game with the Moorcroft Wolves was their first tie of the season. They split 1–1 with Glenrock winning the first set 25–12 and falling 20–25 in the second.
Wind River took control of their math, handing Glenrock their first loss of the weekend. The Cougars won the first set 18–25 and the second 15–25. The final game of the day came against the Tongue River Eagles. Both sets ended with scores of 25–21 with Glenrock taking the first set and Tongue River, the second. It wasn’t the plan for the team to go winless on the first day. It was another test of resilience for the team.
“After I got on the girls, I feel like they’re definitely starting to begin the process of being mentally tough and hopefully they can carry it over into a game. Volleyball’s a game of mistakes, so they’ve got to be able to bounce right back in a game and practice,” Anderson said.
Going forward in the season, she mentioned that seniors Mandi Tvedt and Kaitlyn Cathcart are two players she’ll be looking to as leaders on the court, the ones who can keep their teammates mentally strong when things aren’t going their way. The team had three more games to play on Sept. 14. They took on the Upton Bobcats, Southeast Cyclones and Niobrara County Tigers.
Unlike the first day, these games were best-of-three sets to win. The day kicked off with a 2–1 loss to the 1A Bobcats. Glenrock won the first set 25–17 before Upton took the second set 15–25 and the third 16–14.
Like a breath of fresh air for the team, the Lady Herders picked up their first win in the weekend in a whirlwind three-set victory over the Cyclones. Glenrock took the first set 25–23, fell 17–25 in the second and were forced to play extra points in the deciding third set which they won 18–16.
Going up against the team from Lusk in their final match, Glenrock picked up their second win and left the weekend on a winning streak. They handily beat Niobrara County 25–12 and 25–14 in two quick sets.
After winning those final two games in Big Horn, the Lady Herders have a winning streak for the first time since Aug. 30. They’re carrying momentum into their first conference matchup — a home game against Niobrara County on Sept. 20.
“We’re excited. The girls are ready to play Lusk. I think they’re going to bring a lot of energy and focus and we’re going to get this win,” Anderson said.
That game is scheduled for 3 p.m. with the Homecoming football game later that evening.