Laramie High School Volleyball is Striving for a Title [VIDEO]

Still in the favorite role, the Laramie High School volleyball team begins its quest for a state championship on Thursday in Casper.

The all-class volleyball state tournament is at the Ford Wyoming Center over the next three days.

Laramie will be trying to win its third 4A title in the last four seasons.

The Lady Plainsmen finished second at last weekend’s regional tournament after they suffered their first loss of the season. Head coach Jill Stucky felt that was a good thing.

“I think getting beat, for us, was exactly what the doctor ordered. I felt like it gave us a chance to refocus, and we now have the monkey (of trying to go undefeated) off our backs. We can just move forward, and as a team, we can, in a united way, just not feel that stress anymore, and we can just cheer for one another.”

Stucky knows her squad has been banged up, as well. They’ve suffered through some injuries and sickness, but she said they’re coming through it and back on track.

Seniors Anna Sell and Maddy Stucky visited with KOWB’s David Settle for a preview of LHS at the state championships. They discussed putting the regional tournament behind them, playing Star Valley in the first round, and some keys to being successful this weekend.

Laramie takes on the Star Valley Braves at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday in the quarterfinal round.

Coach Stucky likes having a new opponent to play.

“Sometimes when you play a team too many times, you can learn each other’s idiosyncrasies’, and I feel like playing a team we haven’t played will be good for us.”

Stucky feels they match up well with the Braves, and that Star Valley doesn’t do anything defensively that they haven’t seen already. One area she stressed was how the Braves like to tip a lot of balls.

“As long as we can pass, be in-system, and just be efficient with our swings, I think we’re going to be great.”

The defense has been the focus in preparation for the state tournament. Stucky said they’ve looked at their defensive releases.

“I feel like that’s a major area where we can change a few things, be a little more patient in our releases,  and not charge up into the court. Also, I feel like we need to do a little better job in serve receive. We just need to pass the ball a little bit better.”

LHS won the 4A state championship in 2020 and 2021. They finished in third place last year.