Conference tourneys near for GMS netters

The middle school volleyball season concludes this weekend with area sixth-grade teams playing at a jamboree in Shoshoni on Friday and the seventh- and eighth-grade teams competing at conference tournaments in Burlington and Greybull, respectively.

Greybull’s eighth-grade, or A, team will be looking to put their finishing stretch of matches in the rear-view mirror. The girls dropped games to Thermopolis on Tuesday, Oct. 3, by scores of 24-26, 25-21, 13-15; to Burlington on Saturday, Oct. 5, 25-22, 13-25, 10-15; and to Rocky Mountain on Monday, Oct. 7, 25-27, 25-19, 12-15.

While acknowledging the ups and downs of the seven-day stretch, Coach Sean Patrick said the stat sheet showed a lot of good in his team’s performance. “I see a lot of kills at the net from Ella Keisel and Josie Collingwood, and lots of good serves, as well as aces across the board. 

“Mindset and teamwork are what it boils down to,” he said. “This group of girls can achieve so much if they put their heart, soul, and focus into what they are doing. It all comes to an end this weekend as we enter into our final tournament.”

Buff Gym will be the site of the Big Horn Conference A Tournament. As of Tuesday at 5 p.m., the seeds had not been announced.

Seventh grade

The seventh grade, or B, team won two of three over the same stretch, beating Thermop 10-25, 25-19, 15-5 and Rocky Mountain, 25-23, 25-6, 15-13, while losing to Burlington 25-18, 14-25, 10-15.

Coach Chelsea Craw called the win over Thermop of her favorite games of the season. After a slow start in the first set, her team “made a mental shift” and won the next two. Maythe Garay scored three kills in the second set, two from the back row. Gracelyn Thon and Kimberly Diaz-Rios each made three aces in the third set. 

“It was incredibly exciting to see the girls rally together to make such a comeback and win,” she said.

A bright spot in the loss to Burlington was a run of eight good serves by Amelia Emmett that sparked the young Buffs to a win in the first set.

Emmett and Diaz-Rios also excelled from the service line in the win over Rocky, according to Craw. 

The seventh graders will spend their Saturday in Burlington. As of Tuesday, the tournament was lacking officials and only planning to use one gym. The schedule showed Greybull playing Burlington at 9 a.m. and Thermop at noon.

Sixth grade

The sixth graders won all three of their matches, beating Thermopolis 25-9, 25-17, 14-16; Burlington 19-25, 25-19, 15-11 and Rocky Mountain, 25-21, 25-20, 15-12.

Coach Jamie Keisel credited Peytin Cervantes, Paisley Link and Audrey Didrickson for their serving in the Thermopolis match and the entire team for regrouping after a difficult first-set loss to Burlington two days later..

“The girls said they needed to call the ball and not let anything hit the ground,” she said. “They do a good job of fixing what needs to be fixed most of the time.”  

Link and Joslyn Hunt had the majority of the serves in the first set with Peytin and Norah Thur having a few really good kills at the net. The second set had a few different girls, like Lacy Winkler and Ruby Dalin, carrying the brunt of the serves.  Joslyn Hunt helped round out the game with a few good assists and the other serves. 

Of the Rocky game, Keisel said, “They had a hard time handling our serves so this was mostly a serving game with a little bit of play. Joslyn Hunt had an amazing run of serves in the second set and the girls did a good job helping her keep it.  They did well talking and moving to where the ball was when it was able to be played past the serve.  Norah had a few good kills and a good dig. Overall it was a low stress game and fun for the girls.”