TMS volleyball players getting more comfortable

Thermopolis Middle School volleyball teams had their ups and downs this past week according to head coach Aimee Kay.

The teams are playing well and Kay said the girls are getting more comfortable with running the 5-1 line and switching from offense to defense, but there is still room for improvement.

Last week they were introduced to hitting defense and Kay is starting to see the girls get where they need to be when they need to be there. Their serves are improving, too, but they are still the biggest hurdle, missing too many, giving the other team many of their points.

The team finally got a win last Thursday when they played Ten Sleep.

“The girls were able to set the ball up many times and score off a hit,” Kay said. “Hitting is getting better and the girls are improving on their transitioning and timing, which in turn improves the overall hitting quality. It was really exciting to see the girls put it all together at that level.”

Scores against Ten Sleep were 21-13, 21-17 and 19-21.

They traveled to Riverton on Saturday for matches against both Riverton and Lander.

“We were no match for the Riverton serving,” Kay said. “We haven’t seen serving that hard yet this season and we really struggled to get a good pass. We were able to set it up a few times, but they racked up most of the points on our inability to pass the serve.”

They were able to beat Riverton in the third game.

Final scores against Riverton for the A team were 21-7, 11-21 and 15-12, and the B team scored 15-21, 7-21 and 5-15.

Kay said Lander was beatable and the Cats played them close the first two games, but in the third game one of their servers got “hot” and it was over in a flash.

Against Lander, the A team girls scored 17-21, 14-21 and 2-15, with the B team scoring 3-21, 20-22 and 8-15.

“No one on our team can serve at us as hard and them,” Kay said, “and my best servers are the ones who need to practice since they are a big part of the serve-receive.

“This week, that is the focus and I have a couple of people who are kind enough to come in and serve at the girls, so hopefully that will help a bunch. I know we can beat Lander and they are coming here on the 27th, so I can’t wait to see them again and show them what we can do.

“This group of eighth graders are very coachable, and with the opportunity to get better, I know they will. It was encouraging to see them continue to get better at transitioning form offense to defense.”

As for the seventh grade teams, both A and B played in Riverton, too.

Kay said they are improving, but really struggle to play consistently. They are working on being mentally tough and letting go of their mistakes so they can focus on the next play.

“Many of them are new to team sports,” Kay said, “and that aspect had a learning curve for them. Moving to the ball and being ready to call it and play it are areas of improvement.”

Seventh grade A team against Riverton: 7-21, 11-21 and 15-21. Facing Lander, 20-22, 6-21 and 18-21.

There are no scores for the B team, however their win/loss record in Riverton was 0-3 against Riverton and 1-2 against Lander.