The Lady Braves went 3-1 in their 4A West Regional tournament as they not only qualified for next week’s Wyoming State championships, but placed third on Saturday afternoon. 

On a rival court in Evanston, Star Valley opened up their run on Friday afternoon with a four-set win over the Natrona Fillies to advance to the semifinals. On Friday night, they fell to eventual champion Kelly Walsh in a sweep which dropped them into the elimination side of the tournament bracket. As the winner of an opening round match, Star Valley waited for the winner of Jackson and Rock Springs in an elimination match. 

The victor of that match up was Jackson who then clashed with the Lady Braves in a loser-goes-home situation. 

Star Valley fell behind early in a 17-25 loss and then bounced back with a 25-20 win to tie things up. The Lady Broncs then took the third set 25-18 to push the Lady Braves to the brink of elimination. Set four was a tight one as Star Valley extended the match with a 26-24 win before completing the rally with a 15-10 win in the fifth and final set. 

The win qualified Star Valley for the state tournament while ending the Lady Broncs season. 

The Lady Braves then saw a familiar foe in the their place match as Natrona upset the host school, Evanston, in four sets to end the Red Devils season. 

Star Valley improved their seeding for next week with their second win over the Fillies in two days, this time a 3-0 sweep, 25-22, 25-21 and 25-21. 

Kelly Walsh, the heavy favorites heading into the weekend, did not disappoint their fans as they did not drop a set in three sweeps to the regional crown with wins over Riverton, Star Valley and Green River. 

The Laramie Lady Plainsmen won the 4A East in a sweep as well as they defeated Thunder Basin in the championship. Star Valley will face the Bolts in the opening round at the Ford Wyoming Center next Thursday. Other matchups will include Laramie versus Natrona, Sheridan against Green River and Cheyenne East against Kelly Walsh. 

Star Valley’s match against the Bolts is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. on November 7. 

Regional Roundup

In the 1A West, the Cokeville Panthers swept Dubois in the opening round and then defeated Riverside 3-1 to advance to the championship where they lost to Little Snake River in four sets. 

The Kemmerer Lady Rangers picked up a five-set win over Shoshoni to advance to the semifinals at the 2A West tournament but were then knocked into the elimination bracket afar four-set loss to Rocky Mountain. Kemmerer’s season came to an end in a five-set heartbreaker to Big Piney who went on to take the fourth seed. Rocky Mountain won the bracket with a 3-1 win over Thermopolis.

In the 3A West, the Cody Fillies defeated rival Powell 3-1 to win the tournament with Pinedale beating Lovell 3-1 in the third place game. Mountain View and Lyman were both eliminated on Saturday afternoon. 

Star Valley Scores

W vs Natrona (25-22, 27-25, 19-25, 25-19)

L vs Kelly Walsh (23-25, 23-25, 18-25)

W vs Jackson (17-25, 25-20, 18-25, 26-24, 15-10)

W vs Natrona (25-22, 25-21, 25-22)

4A State Bracket

1A State Bracket