Pink Night raises $1.8k for family

The Buffs’ annual Pink Night game versus Riverside raised $1,800 for recent Greybull High School graduate Wyatt Didrickson last Tuesday, extending their long “volley for the cure” legacy. 

“The Pink Night game was a lot of fun and it is always great to see our community support such a great cause,” Coach Sara Schlattmann said. 

The Buffs easily downed the Rebels in the nonconference matchup, going 25-14, 25-19 and 25-15. Between the second and last sets, the community was invited to join the players on the court for a Serve-a-Thon to benefit the Didrickson family. 

The team’s serving fell against Riverside, down to 85%, slightly below their goal of 90%. Brooklyn Allen, Shayne Cheatham and Caitlyn Hunt exceeded that bar, however, serving over 94%. Perla Rodriguez and Ellie Holloway led on attacks, with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Marlee Henson followed with six and Camila Acuna and Hunt with three each. Setter Wyatt Whaley racked up 30 assists. 

On defense, Whaley notched two blocks and Holloway gutted out 17 digs, followed by Cheatham with 16. 

The big conference match of the week for the Buffs took place Friday. They bested the Shoshoni Wranglers in three sets, 25-23, 25-18 and 25-16, putting Greybull at 3-0 in conference play. 

“I think our girls did such a great job of staying determined and focused for this match,” Schlattmann said. “They were our main focus of practice and we thought they would serve tough, and they did.  We spread our offense out very well as a result of a better passing performance.”

The match included the Buffs’ best serving of the season at 96%. Acuna, Henson, Whaley and Holloway gave a 100% performance, with four aces from Whaley and three from Henson. Again, Cheatham and Holloway led in digs with 18 and 17, respectively. Sherlyn Diaz-Rios added nine. Henson put up two blocks. Rodriguez led in kills with 14, followed by Henson with nine, Holloway with six, Acuna and Hunt with five each. Whaley added 38 assists. 

On Saturday, the team traveled to Dayton to face the No. 2 ranked Tongue River Eagles for a nonconference game. The Buffs put up a tough fight in four sets, ultimately falling 22-25, 19-25, 25-23 and 16-25 to the Eagles’ rapid-fire offense. 

“I thought we played well with them, once we adjusted,” Schlattmann said. “This is the standard of play we have to get to if we want to get to and compete at the state tournament.”

Holloway was the strongarm for the Buffs this match, with 18 kills from the outside. Rodriguez followed with nine, Henson and Hunt with four each and Whaley put up 32 assists. The Buffs serving percentage dipped to 89%. 

“I felt like we have made some real progress on the offensive end and our serving has been more aggressive,” Schlattmann said. “We will keep working on these as well as serve-receive transitions as we approach the latter half of the season.”

The Buffs host Wind River for their homecoming game on Friday, with junior varsity at 2 p.m. and varsity at 3 p.m. 

“Wind River is a young team and we have to be disciplined on our side.  There are a lot of fun distractions the week of homecoming, so it will be important for us to focus this week so that we can continue to make incremental improvements to prepare for the regional and state tournament,” Schlattmann said.