The EWC Lady Lancers are preparing for an action-packed season with an experienced starting lineup.
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TORRINGTON – Fans, it’s time to dust off that Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) gear and come out to support the Lady Lancers volleyball team.
EWC is preparing for an action-packed volleyball season with a skilled, experienced and unified Lady Lancer starting lineup led by eight returning sophomores.
The season is already underway. EWC boards the bus on Friday to compete at the Scooter’s Coffee Invitational in Garden City, Kansas, before the Lady Lancers host Western Nebraska Community College for the season home-opener on Tuesday, August 27.
“The season is getting rolling pretty quickly,” sophomore libero and defensive specialist (DS) Neeley Rutledge said.
Volleyball athletes arrived on the EWC campus at the end of July and began practicing the first week of August.
“We’ve been doing two practices a day – sweating and going at it the whole month of August,” sophomore libero and DS Boden Liljedahl said. “It’s been a grind, but it’s been fun.”
The Lady Lancers have a full roster this season, sophomore middle blocker Siala Unufe added.
“We have a bigger team this year than last year – 19 girls,” Unufe said. “There’s a lot of competing right now for spots (on the starting lineup), but it’s healthy competition. We push each other to be the best version of ourselves on the court.”
As upperclassmen this year, Rutledge, Liljedahl and Unufe are each team captains. Rutledge hails from Kurten, Texas and is majoring in elementary education. Liljedahl grew up in Cheyenne and is a pre-health science major. Unufe played volleyball in her hometown of Spanish Fork, Utah and is majoring in social science.
Despite the players’ diverse backgrounds, the Lady Lancers team chemistry is already gelling.
“We’re more united this year off the court,” Unufe said. “That really transitions to when we play on the court. That’s a huge factor for our success.”
The team captains hope fans will fill the stands throughout the season.
“We would love to see your faces at games,” Liljedahl said. “The more the merrier.”
Rutledge agreed, “Be loud. We’re loud people, so we like our crowd to be loud. We’re excited for the season!”
Building strong bonds
Under the guidance and leadership of head coach George Hamilton, the Lady Lancers are undergoing a “rebuilding process,” Bradley Staman, EWC college relations director, said.
“Two years ago, there were only nine members on (the Lady Lancers) team,” Staman explained. “We’ve had two volleyball coaches in the last three years. These young ladies are building the foundation for a long, prosperous future here at EWC.”
A strong foundation is built on depth and the ability for athletes to come together as a cohesive unit. Greater numbers on the team’s roster are already paying dividends.
“Coming from a defensive point of view, we have a really good back row,” Liljedahl said. “We have amazing passers and we have a bigger team, so there’s more depth. If someone’s having a difficult day, it’s so easy to put in another really good passer to keep that strong back row.”
The same holds true for the front row, Rutledge said.
“Our front row is much bigger than last year,” Rutledge added. “We have bigger blockers. Stronger hitters. In every position, we have taller people who are a little more skilled than last year.”
Depth is meaningless if players are unable to communicate and work together, however. As a result, the Lady Lancers are working to improve bonds among athletes.
“We’re really trying to get the team to feel like a family off the court so we look like a family on our court,” Liljedahl said.
Rutledge also emphasized teamwork.
“You have to really stick together or else it can be chaotic and toxic,” Rutledge added. “I feel like our unity has been really strong this year. We knew this year we were going to make it more of a family-oriented team.”
The Lady Lancers noted a stronger atmosphere of support at scrimmages hosted by Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado.
“This weekend, I noticed a big difference in our cheering compared to our games last year,” Liljedahl said. “We’re so much louder and I think it is because we feel more comfortable with each other and more connected. It’s really fun to celebrate each other and our wins.”
As upperclassmen and team captains, Liljedahl, Rutledge and Unufe understand their responsibility to demonstrate team unity for the younger players.
“I feel like we got close the second semester of last school year,” Unufe said. “Now, I think we are able to bring that unity into the new season and show the freshmen that this is what we are all about. Leadership means being a good role model and setting the tone for what the freshmen should want to have next year.”
Setting high goals
As a team, the Lady Lancers are eyeing a successful run in the postseason.
“We would love to get to the regional tournament,” Liljedahl said. “We didn’t last year, so we kind of have that chip on our shoulder – that fire.”
The Lady Lancers also look forward to taking on their closest rival, Western Nebraska Community College, next week.
“I think we have the potential to take WNCC and beat them,” Rutledge said. “It gives me more fire to want to play them and it’s our first home game.”
Liljedahl is excited to play LCCC.
“I’m from Cheyenne and I love to take it to LCCC,” she added. “Everyone from my city goes and watches the game – I want to get that W in front of them.”
Unufe has her sights set on the Crystal Invite in Salt Lake City at the end of August.
“I’m excited to see all my old teammates and play against them,” Unufe said.
Coach Hamilton hopes to earn his 400th career win as a volleyball coach during the 2024 fall season, a feat he believes the team is more than capable of achieving.
“We have the depth and playing ability to be one of the top teams in our conference,” Hamilton said.
Each athlete also set individual goals for improvement over the course of the season. Liljedahl plans to focus on passing.
“Individually, it’s passing for me – always trying to go for every ball and passing the threes,” Liljedahl added. “I want to be the best teammate and best passer that I can be for my team.”
Unufe’s individual goals center on blocking.
“I want to be a great blocker this year,” Unufe said. “I want to try to close my blocks as well as I can and be up every time. It’s really important in my position to block every ball that I can.”
For Rutledge, the emphasis is on growth as an athlete.
“My goal is to brush things off faster and not let it affect the rest of my game,” Rutledge explained. “I can be really hard on myself, so my biggest goal would be to just give it my all and be okay with that.”
The team’s supportive outlook will help in achieving those goals, Rutledge added.
“I don’t feel as bad making a mistake now, because there’s no judgement,” she said.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to “building the foundation,” Unufe said.
