Lady Herders grab third seed from the East, face Shoshoni Thursday

They did it. After overcoming injuries and a rocky few weeks to end the regular season, the Lady Herders finished strong just when it mattered most.

Glenrock High School’s Lady Herders are heading to the state 2A Volleyball Championship this week . They will open with play against the Shoshoni High School Lady Wranglers Nov. 5 at 10 a.m. in the Casper Events Center.

They placed third overall at the regional tournament last weekend in Pine Bluffs after defeating Tongue River for the third-place crown, which earned them a berth at state and the third seed for state. Shoshoni is the second seed from the West after losing in the regional championship game.

Despite dropping their final two matches of the regular season two weeks ago due to injuries, the Lady Herders bounced back during their first game in regional play Oct. 29 against Niobrara County High School’s Lady Tigers.

The Herd smashed the Tigers, beating them in two straight before giving the Tigers an opening with a loss and forcing a fourth game. In the end, the Purple Pride won 25-13, 25-16, 13-25, 25-14 to advance in the bracket but, more importantly, to earn a coveted berth at the state tournament this coming weekend in Casper.

“This win guaranteed us to go to state. I did have two starting player injuries, Emma Wieser and Kira Hill, but they were both able to come back and play their normal positions Oct. 29,” GHS head volleyball coach Meghan Anderson said.

“They played really well as a team. Everybody just did what they needed to do to win, to make sure we would go on to the state tourney this week.”

Following their win against the Lady Tigers, the Herders fell Thursday evening in a hard-fought match to Tongue River High School (25-19, 25-22, 25-17).

Halloween brought about more losses – and more wins – for the Glenrock girls in a non-typical regional tournament.

First up Oct. 31, the Herders met up for a couple of cross-quad games, a situation out of the ordinary, Anderson said, but things were a little different due to the coronavirus and Wyoming High School Athletics Association doing everything it could to still allow high school sports and keep athletes, fans and coaches as safe as possible during a pandemic.

The Herders opened up the cross-quad contests by edging out the Lady Bulldogs 22-25 in an even match. Sundance responded with a vengeance, walloping the Herders in the next three 25-5, 25-16, 25-16.

In the next match, the Lady Herders redeemed themselves not only for the Lady Bulldog loss but for the previous evening’s showing. The Herd’s victim was Tongue River, which fell in three straight, but all of which were just as hard-fought as their earlier contest. Glenrock won 27-25, 25-23, 25-17.

Anderson said the team is definitely excited, pumped up and ready to compete at the state championships.

That cross-quadrant showdown came at the perfect time to give the Lady Herders their bronze regional crown and that all-important  third-place seed for state.

“It will work, as long as they are able to continue at that level. When we played against Sundance, we weren’t all doing the jobs that needed done. They know they have the potential to do well at state if they all come together and play as a team,” she said.

“They’re definitely ready to compete on Thursday. Our team motto is, ‘Big team, little me.’ It’s kind of what we’ve been riding on.”

The Purple Pride is sitting at 9-13 overall.

Shoshoni is 14-8 on the West side of the 2A. The two teams will battle on court 3 at the Casper Events Center with the opening serve at 10 a.m. Thursday.

The winner of the Glenrock/Shoshoni game will play the winner of the Sundance/Wind River game at 1 p.m. Thursday on court 3. Sundance won the East regional tournament and is ranked top seed from this side of the state, while Wind River is the #4 seed from the 2A West.

The two losing teams from those first-round contests will play at 1 p.m. in court 4.

The 2A state championship game will be at 4 p.m. Thursday on court 2.

The full bracket for the state tournament is available at http://www.whsaa.org/stateevents/volleyball/bracket2A.asp

STATS:

Lusk 10/29 - Aces: Alyssa Collier 5; kills: Ann-Marie Young 8, Adelaide Williams 7; digs: Skylar Harford 19, Emma Wieser 19; assists: Alyssa Collier 21.

Tongue River 10/29 - Aces: Adelaide Williams 2, Alyssa Collier 2; kills: Ann-Marie Young 7; digs: Adelaide Williams 14, Hope Rau 13; assists: Alyssa Collier 6.

Sundance 10/31 - Aces: Adelaide Williams and Emma Wieser 1; kills: Skylar Harford 9; digs:  Skylar Harford 12, Adelaide Williams 11; assists: Alyssa Collier 17.

Tongue River 10/31 -  Aces: Adelaide Williams 3, Kira Hill 2; kills: Skylar Harford 8, Ann-Marie Young 6; digs: Adelaide Williams 16, Emma Wieser 14; assists - Alyssa Collier 17.

*More photos courtesy Nicole Williams in this week's Glenrock Independent.