Greybull Middle School netters open season

The Greybull Middle School volleyball squads kicked off their season with competitions across the basin this weekend.

8th Grade

On Friday, the 8th graders traveled to Thermopolis. 

“It was our first game of the season, so we were all pretty nervous to see how things were going to work out,” said head coach Sean Patrick.  “The night was still a success despite a loss for our first match. We struggled to find our groove in the first set, losing 19/25. We found it in the second set, but a little too late, losing 23/25, but we played very well. The third set was a fun one, since we had already lost, but we redeemed ourselves and won 15/11.”

Saturday morning, the Lady Buffs hosted in their home gym against Burlington. The Huskies came in swinging, but so did the Buffs. Three hard-fought sets had to be played as the Lady Buffs took the first set 25/17. They then faltered slightly in the second set, but went down swinging, losing 25/27. 

“The groove was set and we pulled out the final win 15/11. We definitely look forward to our next meet up with them,” said Patrick, who praised his team’s hard work.

“Two notable things to mention during this game are Josie Collingwood and Ella Kiesel. Josie had 10 serves in a row during the first set and Ella had nine serves in a row during the second set. All girls had a great game, even Reagan Vigil was able to win a joust at the net! She’s got springs.”

Monday, the Lady Buffs traversed to Riverside, where Patrick observed, “We seemed to struggle during the first two sets, but we managed to win the first one 26/24. The second set was a loss at 17/25. We found our stride and had fun during the third, pulling out the win at 15/8. Lovely Arazia should be credited for keeping us in the game during the first set, pulling out eight serves in a row, pulling us out of a 8/13 deficit, putting us up 17/13.

Friday the middle school netters host Rocky Mountain with play starting at 4:15 p.m., 5:15, and 6:15 pm.

The eighth-grade team consists of: Lilliann Otto, Lovely Araiza, Reagan Vigil, Joey Boyer, Josie Collingwood, Ella Keisel, Kaylee Cervantes, Bonnie Rhodes, Makinli Mowery and Wendy Garcia.

7th Grade

The seventh grade volleyball team is off to a good start. “They were all a bit nervous for their first game in Thermopolis, but playing hard on the court turned the butterflies into excitement for the game of volleyball,” said coach Chelsea Craw. “The girls have all shown great sportsmanship, as well as determination, fighting to the very end. For those reasons, our losses have felt like victories”

In Thermopolis, the seventh-grade Lady Buffs went 23/25, 25/15, 11/15. 

The game against Burlington was their first home game. “Having played the night before in Thermopolis may be the reason for not coming out with quite as much energy, but still, they had some really good moments,” Craw said. They went 19/25, 25/14, 6/15.

Monday night saw an energetic win against Riverside. 

“They are beginning to put the skills they’ve been practicing onto the court, especially in serving and playing better at the net. I’m excited to watch them continue to progress throughout the season.”

The seventh-grade team consists of: Amelia Emmett, Maythe Garay, Josey Whaley, Gracelyn Thon, Selena Mendez, Tahliya Averett, Julie Garcia, Lyddia Rios-Munoz, Mia Aguilar and Kimberly Dias-Rios.

6th Grade

The youngest of the Lady Buffs have a roster of 14 girls on the sixth-grade team. “The challenge for me is getting them all in the game and being intentional about when and who to sub to keep our momentum going,” said coach Jamie Keisel. 

“They are an energetic group of girls that have been very coachable and eager to learn. A lot of them have participated in AAU and came to us knowing a little more about volleyball, so we were able to jump into other skills we might not always get to,” she added. “We had a few nerves the first game versus Thermopolis but were able to overcome in the end. Loss 19/25, Win 25/20, Win 16/6.

In game play against Burlington at home on Saturday, they lost their first set 16/25. “We had a slow start in the second set and were down 0-10, but then we came back to win 26/24,” Keisel said.  

“Emily Didrickson had a few amazing serving runs in this set. We had all the parents and fans on the edge of their seats and the gym was full of excitement. That fueled our third set to finish with a 15-12 win,” she said. 

“Monday, we went to Riverside and I was very pleased with our win! The girls have been working so hard on serve receive, being aggressive at the net, and getting our serves over consistently. We had several of our girls have their first overhand serves go over and it was so fun to see their excitement that their hard work in practice is paying off and giving them some confidence,” said Keisel.

Bryndle Cunningham, Norah Thur and Joslyn Hunt were on top of their serving game for the Lady Buffs. They won 25/20, won 25/20, lost 15/11. 

“All girls showed improvement this week,” Keisel added, “I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season brings.”

The sixth-grade team consists of: Bryndle Patrick, Haven Wiggins, Peytin Cervantes, Paisley Link, Christina Lopez, Lacy Winkler, Ruby Dalin, Emily Didrickson, Audrey Didrickson, Joslyn Hunt, Aliina Averett, Katie Bertolini, Darleh Jara-Rios and Norah Thur.