Laramie Volleyball to Play in State Championship Match

For the first time since 1994, the championship match at the Wyoming State Volleyball Tournament will feature the Laramie Lady Plainsmen. Laramie defeated defending champs Kelly Walsh in the semifinal match, 25-15, 25-20, 27-29, 25-22, on Friday night in the Casper Events Center. The Lady Plainsmen will play Sheridan for the state title on Saturday at 5 pm in a rematch of the 4A East Regional Tournament Championship.

LHS began the match on fire as they raced to a 7-0 start in the first match. The Lady Trojans picked up the pace but never got out of the hole as Laramie cruised to a 25-15 win in the first set. The second set appeared to be a repeat of the first as the Lady Plainsmen built up a 20-13 lead, but Kelly Walsh began finding points on quick sets to their middles and pulled the set to 22-20 before Laramie closed it out with three quick points.

The third set would be its own animal. Laramie held a three or four point lead for most of the set until the Lady Trojans took an 18-17 lead. The defending state champs appeared to have the set in hand at 24-20, but the Lady Plainsmen went five point run to earn match point at 25-24. A tip from Kelly Walsh's Savannah Cardenas kept the Lady Trojans alive, then a dump from Laramie's Caitlyn McInerney gave the Lady Plainsmen another match point. But Kelly Walsh took advantage of a Laramie hitting error and had a big block on the outside that propelled the Lady Trojans to a 29-27 win in the third set.

The Lady Plainsmen got off to another quick start in the fourth set at 4-1, which they built to a 13-7 lead on some quick net play. After a timeout, Kelly Walsh would show some fight and tie the game at 13, 16, 17, 19 and 22 points. This time, Laramie did not let the opportunity slip away and three kills sent the Lady Plainsmen to the state title game.

We had some amazing ups. The girls were so amazing about staying on their line and we were able to shut them down a couple of times and then they started tipping and roll shotting and we were able to get them from there.
-Coach Witkop

Laramie was led by their senior captain, Laurel Austin, with 12 kills and 1 ace. Ali Beckler and Madison Legerski had 8 kills each, Britney Titensor added 39 digs and Caitlyn McInerney and Kyrie Anderson had 16 and 10 assists, respectively.

Saturday's championship match will be the fourth meeting between Laramie and Sheridan this season. In conference play, both teams won on their home court and Sheridan took the regional championship over Laramie in five long sets.

We've got to come out and play together as a family. If we do that we're a very tough team. We're going to be tough to beat if we can come out and be scrappy and consistent.
-Coach Witkop

The 4A Championship match is scheduled to begin at 5 pm, coverage will start on KOWB at 4:45 pm with Kari Eakins. You can listen online by clicking here.