• Girls will be at the Evanston Border Wars this weekend.
The varsity and junior varsity Lady Braves volleyball players were on the other side of Wyoming this past Friday and Saturday as they competed in the Cheyenne Invitational where they saw five of their fellow 4A squads. The team picked up wins over Sheridan and Cheyenne South while falling to Thunder Basin, Cheyenne East and Laramie.
“I feel like our goals for the weekend were accomplished,” replied head coach Suni Brown. “We wanted to play some tough schools and we did. We wanted to try some different lineups and we did. We wanted to grow and get to see these teams and know they are beatable. So I was glad we were able to do that; except the bus trip.”
On Friday, the Lady Braves jumped out early against #3 Thunder Basin but fell in two sets, 25-22 and 25-18. These matches were played on the court of Cheyenne East High School.
Star Valley then took their act over to Cheyenne South where they smashed the host Bison, 25-12 and 25-23. Day One came to a close as the Lady Braves dug deep and were able to overcome Sheridan in three sets, 25-14, 22-25 and 27-26.
On Saturday the area spikers went up against the two teams who have dominated the 4A title game in the last handful years as they faced the Thunderbirds and the Laramie Plainsmen.
Up first, the T-birds got the better of Star Valley on their home court, 25-19 and 26-24. In the final match on their schedule the Lady Braves fell to Laramie, winner of three of the last four 4A state titles, 25-18 and 25-16.
“It was good to see the speed of the offense as far as what’s going on in the other side off the state,” Brown added. “It’s the more competitive side once they are at the state tournament. [They have] the speed and the height. So we started talking strategies and how we can pick apart those schools.”
This week the Lady Braves will be significantly closer to home as they will compete in Evanston at the Red Devil Invite this Friday and Saturday.
“When we go to the Border Wars we try and play schools from other states as much as they can,” Brown continued. “This is also a fun one where we will be figuring out where we want to put our girls and try different lineups and positions. We can try some things out. We still expect to win. But having this one closer to home will be fun too and see where we are after another week of practice.”
•SVHS Invite Canceled
The Lady Braves’ traditional home tournament which was scheduled for later this month, has been canceled after numerous teams have pulled out.
“We had 12 teams confirm last spring and last week they are dropping like flies and we were down to three teams,” Brown said. “So we found a new tournament.”
The Lady Braves will now play at the Bonneville Invitational in Idaho on September 13-14.
“It’s a bunch of 6A and 5A teams and a handful of 4A teams,” Brown explained. “Just another good learning weekend which I’m excited about.”
