Time Off Doesn’t Hurt Lady Plainsmen Volleyball in Sweep

Maia Edwards had ten kills and five blocks to lead the Laramie Lady Plainsmen to a sweep of Cheyenne Central in 4A East Conference volleyball Tuesday in Laramie.

Laramie won the match by scores of 25-17, 25-22 and 25-17.

Lady Plainsmen head coach Rebecca Stewart said she saw a good level of consistent play.

“Central is a great team. They’re one of those teams that has just enough talent that if you let them in, they’ll really kind of get on top of you. I thought we really never let that happen. We stayed strong. If we lost a couple points, we bounced back and make a run of our own.”

The first set featured ten ties early, but Laramie broke away for a 16-12 lead and pulled away.

Stewart admitted there was a little rust after ten days off.

“I know the girls were super excited and antsy to play again. That mixed with one of our bigger crowds, I’m sure got their jitters going, but I think once we settled in after a couple of points, we really kind of rolled from there.”

In set two, the Lady Plainsmen took an early lead thanks to the serving of Shyann Bastian. They got ahead 17-10, but Central rallied within 20-19. LHS scored five of the final eight points to win the set. In the final set, the early portion was close again, but an Edwards kill combined with a pair of service aces from Jennifer Aadland gave Laramie a 10-8 edge. They built their lead to 19-14 and closed it out with six of the last nine points.

Stewart added, “I think our middles did step up tonight, and part of that being because Shyann was setting so well."

Katie Welniak contributed seven kills and 12 digs. Caely Pickerd added five kills, while Bastian finished with 28 assists and a pair of kills from the setter position.

The Lady Plainsmen have won four straight matches and are 11-2 overall and 3-0 in the 4A East Conference. Laramie will host Cheyenne South in another league match at 6 p.m. Thursday.