Going into regionals, we will just focus on that one game, that first game. We have a feeling that we’re going to see WNCC again. We just have to focus on our strengths and keep our head held high going into that game. Our goal is to get the W over them. We’ve come close. We can compete with them. We can do it – we just need to finish.”

Boden Liljedahl

Up Next

The Lady Lancers host Western Wyoming Community College on Friday, November 1 at 6 p.m. EWC plays its final home game of the regular season against Casper College on Saturday, November 2 at 2 p.m.

By Robert Galbreath

rgalbreath@torringtontelegram.com

TORRINGTON – The Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) Lady Lancers found themselves trailing Laramie County Community College (LCCC) early in the first conference match of the season on September 24.

LCCC won the first two sets, 25-12 and 25-21.

“Honestly, we really played horribly in those first two sets,” EWC sophomore and middle blocker Siala Unufe said. “But volleyball is a game of mistakes. If you dwell on them, you’re not going to play that well. If we lose the first set, it’s in the past. We’re lucky enough to get another one.”

Brushing themselves off, the Lady Lancers battled LCCC beyond 25 in a nailbiter third set to win, 26-24. Their momentum and confidence surging, the Lady Lancers trounced LCCC in the fourth set, 25-20.

As EWC prepared for the fifth set, the Lady Lancers focused on the reasons to keep fighting.

“Your heart, the game, the team,” sophomore and libero Boden Liljedahl said. “Your desire to win – whether you’re willing to do all the little things to achieve the bigger things.”

The Lady Lancers doubled LCCC in scoring in the fifth set, 15-7, locking in a 3-2 victory.

“We proved to ourselves we are a good team and we can play with some of the better teams,” Unufe said. “Ever since (the LCCC match), we kind of fed off that energy and have gotten better.”

EWC continued its success with 3-2 wins in five-set comebacks against both Western Wyoming Community College (WWCC) on October 11 and Northwest College in Powell on October 25.

“Going off the first game (against LCCC), it did help that we were literally down two sets,” Liljedahl added. “We saw what we needed to do mentally. If we do lose that first set again, it doesn’t faze us anymore. We can say, ‘Okay. We can go onto the next set. There are three more.’”

EWC proved particularly skillful at coming together to control the fifth set in all three games, winning against Northwest College in the tiebreaker by a 15-6 margin and knocking out WWCC 15-11 in the fifth set.

“We were fighting the whole time for the win,” Unufe said. “Somehow, that fifth set is when we really came together. We just take off in that fifth set. It’s cool to see how we come together as a team. We know what we want and get it done.”

This year, Lady Lancers proved beyond any doubt they are capable of defeating any opponents in a clean sweep, in four sets or even five. The October 25 victory against Northwest followed a 3-0 win against Central Wyoming College on October 26, allowing the Lady Lancers to snag the NJCAA Region IX North conference title for the first time since 1998 with an undefeated 10-0 conference record.

“It feels like a really good accomplishment individually and as a team,” Liljedahl said. “It just shows how much we’ve grown from last year.”

Unufe agreed: “It shows how our hard work has paid off.”

The recipe for success

The Lady Lancers attack each game with spirit and enthusiasm. The passion each athlete brings to the game is evident on the court to an observer of any game – the players on the floor constantly boost each other up, while an animated sideline brings the noise. The excitement on the court spreads to the fans as well.

“Volleyball is a game of energy,” Liljedahl said. “You have to have that same energy in practice and that will translate to the game. You practice your energy during drills, so it feels like nothing when you bring it on the court. It just feels like another day.”

The energy also makes games and practice more enjoyable, Unufe added.

“I think we are all here to have fun at the end of the day,” Unufe said. “It’s something we all bring to the table. We celebrate each other and that gets the energy going.”

The Lady Lancers’ team chemistry and desire to support each other is a key ingredient to the team’s success.

“This year, we stressed the family aspect that we have on the court,” Liljedahl noted. “We are excited for each other. We really do feel happy when somebody does something successfully.”

Unufe echoed Liljedahl’s statement.

“When we are successful, it’s because we’ve played together as a team,” Unufe said. “When we come together, that’s when we’ve been the most successful.”

Building a strong defense by emphasizing specific skills was another component to the team’s accomplishments.

“Our serve receive and defense has played a really big factor in our game,” Unufe remarked. “Our serve receive has been great this year. When passing is good, then the offense gets to be good. We wouldn’t be successful without that first pass.”

Liljedahl gave a shoutout to the blockers on the front row.

“It makes our job easier (for passing) when our block is there as well,” Liljedahl added. “We’ve also had big blocks this season. When our defense gets set up well, it makes it a whole lot easier to dig a ball.”

Developing a passion for volleyball

Unufe began playing volleyball when she was 10, involved in “city league stuff’ back home in Salt Lake City.

“There was a lot of serving either into the net or you would serve the ball over and it would just drop,” Unufe said.

While volleyball may not have clicked right away, Unufe kept at the sport. She joined a club volleyball team in seventh grade and played each year of high school. Unufe earned second-team, all-regional accolades twice as a junior and senior in Utah. As an upperclassman in high school, Unufe served as varsity captain for two years. She also lettered in volleyball all four years of her high school career. 

“I’ve been playing for nine years,” she said. “It’s kind of crazy.”

Liljedahl is a multisport athlete, excelling in basketball as well as volleyball. 

“I’ve always been into basketball,” Liljedahl said. “I only played volleyball (competitively) when high school came around. But that’s when I started to get a love for volleyball because of the higher level of energy.”

Liljedahl’s high school achievements include three consecutive Wyoming 4A all-state and all-conference awards. Liljedahl broke three records at her high school in Cheyenne and was named the Wyoming defensive player of the year as a sophomore, junior and senior. Moreover, Liljedahl earned a varsity letter four years in a row.

Unufe described volleyball as a “rewarding sport” when asked why she stuck with the game.

 “When you get a good block or a good dig, it’s very rewarding,” Unufe added. “I love the team aspect and I love that in volleyball, your hard work pays off.”

As sophomore starters at EWC, Unufe and Liljedahl are both leaders on the Lady Lancer squad. The task is far from easy.

“As a leader, you have to make sure you keep the unity on the team,” Liljedahl explained. “It’s hard – we all have our days, but we have to try to be the most energetic and positive (at practice and games). It’s a hard role to take on and we have to hold ourselves accountable.”

Unufe highlighted communication.

“If we lose a set, the team looks to us to see what we can improve on,” Unufe said. “We do a good job of holding our teammates accountable and telling our teammates, ‘We can play better than this. We know what needs to be fixed.’”

The Lady Lancers look forward to the final weeks of the season with two conference games against WWCC and Casper College this weekend at home.

“We always talk about how the most important game is the next one,” Unufe said. “Focusing on Western on Friday and Casper on Saturday – finishing conference solid will give us confidence and momentum going into regionals.”

The Region IX championships take place in Cheyenne this year from November 5-9. EWC will face off against tough opponents, possibly including a match versusWestern Nebraska Community College (WNCC). 

The team plans to tackle the regional tournament one game at a time, Liljedahl said.

“Going into regionals, we will just focus on that one game, that first game,” Liljedahl added. “We have a feeling that we’re going to see WNCC again. We just have to focus on our strengths and keep our head held high going into that game. Our goal is to get the W over them. We’ve come close. We can compete with them. We can do it – we just need to finish.”