LUSK – The Torrington High School volleyball team got a look at a team which the Lady Blazers usually never play in the Niobrara County Lady Tigers Tuesday evening in Lusk.
“We have had that a lot this year,” THS coach Chelsi Jackson said. “We are seeing three teams we never see from Wyoming and then two from Nebraska. It’s good.”
The Lady Blazers swept the Lady Tigers, 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-18), but it wasn’t without a battle at times.
“It was a good pick-me-up game for the girls,” Jackson said. “It got their confidence up a little bit. They were scrappy so it was a kind of team we needed to see. We are used to the ones that hammer it down at us instead of having to move.”
The Lady Tigers scored the first points in each set, but major runs in each set propelled the Lady Blazers to the victory.
In the first set, Lusk struck first, but a block by Torrington junior Sierra Allen put the Lady Blazers on the board.
NCHS found itself in front 6-4 before THS used a 9-1 run bookended by senior Michaela Moorehouse and junior Reece Halley kills to take a 13-7 lead.
Torrington managed to keep the Lady Tigers at bay for the rest of the set.
In the second, it was NCHS, again, grabbing the early advantage.
The home team held a 3-1 lead before they served up an error.
It sparked the Torrington rally. The Lady Blazers scored 12 of the next 16 points, cruising to a 2-0 set lead.
In the third set, Lusk raced out to a six-point lead before Torrington scored its first point of the set.
“We played slow. We didn’t play at our tempo,” Jackson said. “We aren’t good at playing slow. We have to play fast to get stuff done.”
As the pace picked up, Torrington slowly erased the deficit.
Trailing 15-9 and coming out of a timeout, the Lady Blazers finished the match on a 16-3 run.
“It seemed like everyone was well rounded,” Jackson said. “Nobody made an extensive amount of errors, and nobody made a whole bunch of points. I thought it was better that way because you aren’t relying on one person.”
No stats were available at press time.
The Lady Blazers (9-2) travel to Newcastle (1-9) on Tuesday, Oct. 6 for the first of three matches next week. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. Torrington then hosts Douglas on Friday, Oct. 9 at 5 p.m. and travels to Buffalo on Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest.
