Laramie Volleyball Grinds Out Five Set Win Over Cheyenne East

Laramie gave East a chance to win the match. In fact, Laramie gave East two chances, specifically in the fourth set when the Lady T-Birds were up 24-22 and had a 2-to-1 set lead over the Lady Plainsmen. But the senior-laden volleyball team from Laramie found a way to stay alive with a kill from the back row by Laurel Austin followed with an ace from Ali Beckler. Once LHS forced the fifth set, they controlled the remainder of the match to pick up the 4A East Conference win over Cheyenne East (25-17, 15-25, 25-27, 27-25, 15-10).

Defense was a big part of the win for Laramie as two hitters from East, Sally Sanders and Jenna Heinonen, caught fire in the 2nd and 3rd sets. Sanders was able to pound the ball from all three front row positions while Heinonen, a 6'4" middle hitter, was able to hit over Laramie's block to find open court. But the Lady Plainsmen were able to come up with big plays in crucial moments and the match came to an end with Caitlin McInerney blocking an outside attack from Sally Sanders.

An aggressive mentality was also key for Laramie. Head Coach Trisha Witkop said that an aggressive team is "who we are" and that the Lady Plainsmen lost track of that mentality in the middle of the match before returning to their normal form at the end of the fourth set. Laramie finished the night with nine serving aces, with eight of those aces occuring in the first, fourth and fifth sets.

The win moves Laramie to into a three-way tie for first place in the conference standings with Sheridan and Gillette, who are all 4-1. Overall Laramie has a 15-2 record heading into this weekend's tournament in Casper. The Lady Plainsmen will face Cheyenne East, Rawlins and Kaycee in pool play on Friday.

Laramie Stats against Cheyenne East on 9/20/11:
Caitlin McInerney: 1 ace, 17 digs, 16 assists, 1 solo block, 3 block assists and 9 kills
Laurel Austin: 2 aces, 24 digs and 12 kills
Ali Beckler: 5 aces (no serving errors), 22 digs and 10 kills
Madison Legerski: 8 block assists and 4 kills
Josie Bowdish: 1 ace, 7 block assists and 4 kills
Kyrie Anderson: 19 assists
Emily Pearson: 1 ace, 24 digs
Myranda McCollum: 6 kills
Brooke Hocker: 1 ace, 20 digs