Lady Plainsmen Volleyball Dominates on Senior Night

Overcoming emotions isn’t easy on senior night, but the Laramie Lady Plainsmen made it look that way in their sweep on No. 3 Cheyenne East Tuesday night.

The top-ranked Lady Plainsmen defeated the Thunderbirds 25-20, 25-19 and 25-22 to remain undefeated in conference play.

Laramie (26-4, 11-0) honored their five seniors, Shyann Bastian, Maia Edwards, Caely Pickerd, Lexi Pulley and Katie Welniak, prior to the match. They came out and controlled the first set from the start. In sets two and three, East held the lead, but LHS rallied and brought out the broom.

Bastian said to get a sweep on senior night and against East was amazing.

“I can’t even express what it feels like. Just eye-opening, that we can defeat any team in the state, as long as we play hard.”

She finished with four kills, three blocks, seven digs and three aces in a team win. No one reached double figures in kills. Welniak led the way with eight. Junior Jennifer Aadland had six, while junior Ashlyn Titensor added four. Pulley finished with 13 digs, and Welniak had 10 digs.

Laramie coach Rebecca Baker said she couldn’t be more proud of her team.

“They really have that mental toughness this year. Like, yep, it’s emotional, senior night, all these things, but as soon as you are on that court and that game starts, like, that is where your brain is. To see them be so engaged, work so hard, build together every point, it was just amazing to see.”

Senior Maia Edward said their defense played a significant role.

“We got really good blocks, got block touches. Everyone was digging everything that came near them in the back row, and I think that was real key to us getting the sweep today (Tuesday).”

This victory makes it seven straight for LHS. They haven’t lost since the finals of the Gold Bracket at the Casper Invite Sept. 23. Ironically, their last defeat was to Cheyenne East, whom they’ve now beaten twice since.

The Lady Plainsmen will try to conclude the regular season with a perfect conference mark at Cheyenne Central Thursday. Varsity match time is at 6 p.m.

Laramie does host the 4A East Regional Volleyball Championships Oct. 27 and 28. The Lady Plainsmen will not play until Saturday, Oct. 28. They have already qualified for the State Volleyball Championships Nov. 2-4 in Casper.