SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. – The Eastern Wyoming College volleyball team began its postseason play bright and early Wednesday morning with an 8 a.m. matchup against Lamar (Colorado) Community College.
It was the first of two matches on the day for the Lady Lancers who pulled the split.
The opening match against Lamar was a play-in game, and EWC, the No. 3 seed from the North Division, defeated the Lamar Lopes, 3-0 (25-6, 25-18, 25-15).
The Lady Lancers raced out to a 6-1 lead behind a kill from sophomore outside hitter Neza Pec and cruised to the 19-point win.
The second set, EWC looked to continue its momentum, scoring the first three points. Eastern’s lead reached as many as 17-12 following a block from sophomore Victoria Anderer.
However, Lamar chipped away at the lead, scoring the next three points, forcing EWC to use a timeout.
The two-point lead was as small it got. Anderer and an attack error that landed wide started a brief run by the Lady Lancers as they pulled away for the win.
The third set, Eastern Wyoming raced out to a 5-1 lead en route to the 10-point set win.
With the win, the Lady Lancers advanced to the next round, facing the No. 18-ranked and the South’s No. 2-seeded Western Nebraska Community College Lady Cougars.
Freshman Makenna Reinhert gave the Lady Lancers an early 1-0 lead in the opening set. Western Nebraska scored the next three points, but sophomore Alyssa George’s kill and an WNCC attack error gave the EWC a 4-3 advantage.
It proved to be the last lead of the day for the Lady Lancers in the 25-22, 25-10, 25-21 loss.
WNCC’s lead reached 17-12, but Eastern Wyoming made a late push, cutting the deficit to 22-21 after an ace serve by Vanja Tomic.
The second set was all Lady Cougars.
EWC used both of its timeouts early, falling behind 11-3. Western Nebraska pushed the lead to as many as 22-5.
The Lady Lancers managed to score five more points before the end of the set.
In the third set, WNCC was in control most of the set as its lead reached as many seven at 22-15. Once again, EWC made a late push, cutting the home team’s lead to 24-21 after a kill by George before the Lady Cougars scored the match’s final point.
Even with the loss, the Lady Lancers were guaranteed a match on Thursday in the double-elimination format. The Region IX Tournament wraps up on Saturday.
