Lady Cats take Buffalo in three

The Lady Cats volleyball team had a busy week last week with action on Thursday against Worland and Friday against Buffalo.

Thursday, the girls lost 25-11, 25-15 and 25-9 against Worland, but there were some good spots to note.

"We knew going into this match that it would be a tough one," coach Shannon Hill said. "Worland is a very good team with some tall, talented girls leading their offense. We could never really get on a roll to gain any momentum."

Kelly Johnson led the team on Thursday with four kills while Maggie Ryan had 14 digs. Johnson also had two blocks and Makayla George had one.

"Our defense was solid though, with Maggie (Ryan) and Lizzy Lofink flying all over the place, making some incredible plays," coach Hill said. "We need to work on our confidence coming into matches where we are 'out-matched' height-wise against teams.

"We have the parts we need, just making them all work together at the right time is a hurdle."

The ladies bounced back on Friday against Buffalo however, winning in three straight, 25-23, 25-18 and 25-17.

"Our girls played much better against Buffalo on Friday night," said Hill. "We came in more confidently and you could tell in the way they played."

George had 11 kills for the evening, followed by Lofink with seven. Chloe Crosby put two aces in her pocket while Maggie Ryan pulled 10 digs.

"Our hitters were doing a great job at the net and our defense was picking up a lot of Buffalo's attacks," Hill said. "Makayla (George) did a nice job at the net for us, but all the hitters contributed nicely to our offense.

"One area we need to focus on is blocking, especially against teams that run a quicker offense. Buffalo does a nice job running all of their hitters and that is something we haven't really faced a lot this season.

"However, we walked out of that match feeling very positive about how we played and the fact that we took a step in the right direction. I am proud of how my girls bounced back from Thursday's loss and played very well against Buffalo."

Timing is definitely everything. Coach Hill's water broke at 9 p.m. on Friday night and welcomed a bouncing baby boy at 1:05 a.m.

"I appreciated him waiting until our matches were over for the weekend," she said.