Lady Plainsmen Battle But Fall to Cheyenne East

The final volleyball match at the present Laramie High School went to the visitors. Top-ranked Cheyenne East defeated Laramie in four sets Tuesday night.

The Lady Plainsmen tried for a senior night surprise, but couldn’t topple the Lady Thunderbirds, who remained unbeaten against Wyoming competition. Scores of the match went 25-11, 25-20, 21-25 and 25-20 in favor of East.

Head coach Becky Stewart said we had, especially in the fourth set, just too many lulls.

“We would make a string of unforced errors, and it’s hard to win games if you’re giving another team too many free points… I think these girls are realizing if we control our side (of the net), we can reach even higher than this. It’s a good step, and we’re ready to get to the next one.”

Laramie did become the first team in the 4-A East Conference to win a set off of the Lady Thunderbirds with their victory in set three, 25-21.

Stewart believes that was a really big deal.

“For them to recover, mostly mentally, was just the biggest thing. They made a choice that, nope, this is no longer acceptable; went out there and made a change and held that. So, I was really, really proud of them for that.”

The Lady Plainsmen were led by Caely Pickerd with six kills. Jennifer Aadland and Shyann Bastian added four kills apiece. Katie Welniak served up three aces, while Bastian added two. Lexi Pulley contributed 13 digs.

Laramie is now 4-5 in conference and 11-16 overall. They conclude the regular season at Cheyenne Central Thursday at 6 p.m.