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By Alex Kuhn
Sports Editor 

Even in defeat, Lady Pioneers show progress

 

August 31, 2018

DAILY NEWS/ Alex Kuhn

Lady Pioneer Payton Casteel hustles to send the ball over the net while teammate Anna Watson looks on during Thursday night's 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-18) loss to St. Stephens at Ten Sleep High School.

TEN SLEEP - In an early 1A Northwest volleyball conference matchup the Ten Sleep Lady Pioneers hosted the St. Stephens Lady Eagles Thursday night at Ten Sleep High School. The results went in favor of the Lady Eagles, as they downed the Lady Pioneers 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-18) but there were signs of improvement on Ten Sleep's part.

For starters, the Lady Pioneers' tenacity was on display by never giving up on a ball until a whistle was blown. Several times throughout the match Ten Sleep was able to keep a ball in play when all hope seemed lost.

Just last week those were plays the Lady Pioneers weren't making.

"We would have never picked up those loose balls just last week. They're showing quick improvement and getting to know where each other are on the court and their tendencies," said TSHS volleyball coach Desiree Egger. "For sure there were positives. We had some rookie mistakes tonight [Thursday] but they don't need to hang their heads. We're going to take our lumps and that's how we're going to grow and get better. We'll learn from those mistakes and we'll peak at the right time."

Another positive sign on the Lady Pioneers part was their encouraging attitudes. The young team made mistakes during their battle against the Lady Eagles and some were unforced errors. Rather get upset with one another over those errors, the Ten Sleep players were encouraging each other. Veterans, like Bryley Moore, Anna Watson, Payton Casteel and Elizabeth Lungren, offered helpful pointers to the younger players on top of the encouragement.

"We've talked a lot about building each other up and not breaking anyone down because they're going to be the only girls we have to play with next year. If we start tearing each other down now we're never going to get that train up the mountain. We've had in the past where we tore ourselves down and that only hurt us in the end," said Egger.

As Ten Sleep plays in more matches together and the chemistry on the court grows, they'll be able to avoid the slow starts to a game like they had in Game 2. The first seven points scored in that game were by St. Stephens. They did make a push at the end to cut down the deficit but there was too much ground to make up and a small margin for error to pull off the comeback.

It's another teaching moment for the Lady Pioneers and one that Egger feels they'll pick on quickly.

"It takes us a while to get warmed up," said Egger. "We're struggling to string plays together. We do have times where we can get three or four together but mostly we're having a hard time stringing two or three balls together. Once we get that rhythm down we'll be able to avoid those types of starts."

Ten Sleep has the remainder of the week off and won't be back in action until the Meeteetse Invitational tournament on September 7-8.

The tournament will also give the Lady Pioneers another peek at some of their conference rivals.

"Getting a mini look always gives you a little confidence going into conference play. When we saw the Burlington girls we were more excited to play them than say Rocky. Against conference teams, they have a tie and connection with those teams. The rivalries just bring a different intensity to the games," said Egger.

 
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