The Lady Braves volleyball team will be hitting the road for a long trek to the state capitol this weekend to open their season in Cheyenne. When they come home, they will have a very good idea of not only where they stand as a team but also who are some of the top teams from the rest of the 4A classification.

Star Valley will be facing three squads on Friday beginning with a morning match against Cheyenne South. In the afternoon they will take on Cheyenne Central and then wrap a full and challenging day against the Sheridan Lady Broncs.

On Saturday, the team will then face off against perennial powerhouse Laramie before wrapping their schedule against Thunder Basin on Saturday afternoon.

“We will be up against the runner up with Laramie,” stated coach Kalin Schwab. “Sheridan was third last year and then [Thunder Basin] would have placed if they didn’t lose their setter. She’s back so it’s really good look at some of the top teams.”

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As for the Lady Braves, the weekend is also a chance to flesh out team roles and positions in a very competitive atmosphere. So what should fans expect to see out of Star Valley this season?

“You’re gonna see a more balanced offense,” Schwab continued. “We have some pretty good hitters in various places. We have some scrappy defense. We have some outside hitters who can also play libero if we needed them to. We’ll be mixing it up a little bit as we gain some more experience.”

Out of the gate, Schwab expects Avery England and Peyton Hokanson to play on the outside with Shayna Casey also in that mix as well. Ady Christiensen is expected to be on the right side.

Ruby Hill and Charlee Nuenschwander will likely anchor the middle with Hallie Hokanson and Harlie Hilton running setting duties.

“On defense, Camryn Mackey at libero,” Schwab added. “Then we have a move-in from Preston, Braxtin Ware, she will probably be playing some defensive specialist time.”

Based on the format of the tournament it may be difficult to swap JV players into the varsity rotation.

“We might adjust while we are there but the tricky thing at the Cheyenne Invite there are some JV kids who might sneak in but they play at the same time so it will be pretty concrete for those two days because of that.”

The Lady Braves will be closer to home next weekend for the Evanston Border Wars. Their first home match is scheduled on September 18 versus Jackson with another match on Saturday September 20 against Riverton.