DOUGLAS – The Lady Warriors were able to shake off a slow start to the Douglas Invite on Friday, bouncing back with a strong showing Saturday to come away with a fifth place finish in the gold bracket at the two day tournament.

Only managing to win one match Friday, Worland won two out of the three matches it had Saturday.

The resiliency the Lady Warriors showed was exactly what coach Brittany Miller wanted to see out of her team.

"Day one in Douglas, we didn't play like we had been in practices. It was the first varsity experience for almost everyone on our team except for a couple returning girls. So they were kind of like deer in the headlights on day one," Miller said. "But I knew the talent and potential they had so I wasn't worried at all. On day two, we saw the team that we've seen all summer and at practice.

"We came out swinging and blocking and just playing huge."

Worland opened with two straight losses Friday to Kemmerer (25-17, 16-25, 12-15) and Shoshoni (20-25, 28-26, 12-15) before blanking Wheatland 25-13 and 25-21 to barely squeeze into the gold bracket Saturday.

Once there, the Lady Warriors faced top-seeded and eventual champion Wright in the first round. They gave Wright all they could, but in the end lost in three games 23-25, 25-23 and 10-15 and were the only team to win a game against the Lady Panthers all weekend.

"Saturday we were in the top bracket and Wright was the top dog there and we played them more competitively than anyone in the entire tournament and took them to three," Miller said.

Worland continued its strong play throughout the rest of the tournament, first beating Pinedale in two games (25-20, 25-18) and following that up by avenging a loss from Friday to Shoshoni – and in dominant fashion.

After narrowly losing to the Lady Blue in three games Friday, Worland finished off the tournament by handling Shoshoni in two games – winning 25-11 and 25-13.

Up next for the Lady Warriors will be another tournament as they head to the Border Wars Friday in Cody.

Thermopolis struggles to find its way in Douglas

The Lady Bobcats had a tough go of it in their first tournament of the season. In six matches, Thermopolis only managed one win and never pushed any of the teams to three games in its five losses.

Thermopolis lost most of its height to graduation last season and is still working to find its identity in the early part of the season.

The Lady Bobcats started off strong against Jackson, but quickly fell off and lost in two games 26-28 and 7-28. They then fell to Buffalo (15-25, 13-25) and Torrington (12-25, 18-25) to wrap things up Friday.

Saturday, Thermopolis opened up with a loss to Kemmerer in two games (15-25, 12-25) but managed a hard-fought win by taking down Lander in three games 25-23, 22-25 and 15-1.

The day ended with a loss to Glenrock in two games 19-25 and 20-25.

Thermopolis will be back in action again Friday as it travels to Cody for the Border Wars tournament.