Natrona County opens state volleyball against defending champ Laramie
The Natrona County volleyball team might have figured things out at the perfect time.
After a regular season in which the Fillies were 1-5 in five-set matches, they earned four-set victories over both Riverton and host Evanston at the West Regionals last weekend to finish fourth and punch their ticket to this week's Class 4A state volleyball championships.
"I think it came down to the girls doing the little things at the right time to get the job done," NC head coach Adrian McNamee said. "A lot of the things we did over the weekend we had been talking about all season, and I think they realized it was up to them to do it. They came out Saturday and played with a lot of grit."
Natrona County (13-19) dropped its opening game to Star Valley on Friday before defeating both the Wolverines and the Red Devils. The Fillies lost to Star Valley in the third-place game.
The two victories Saturday marked the first time since mid-September the Fillies won back-to-back games.
"It has been right there within our reach," McNamee said. "I think playing all those close games throughout the season really helped us this past weekend, especially in the Riverton and Evanston games, because we were used to a little bit of pressure.
"We just have to take that one extra step, because that's the difference between winning a game 25-23 and losing a game 25-23."
Seniors Cami Costello and Brynn Sybrant and sophomore Jos Berens have been NC's best options at the net. xxx
Costello also leads the team with x.x digs per set and senior Aubry Hurst averages a team-leading x.x assists per set.
After a season of close losses, the fact the Fillies were able to figure out a winning formula at the regional tournament gives them confidence heading into state.
"It definitely took a lot of motivation from all of the girls on the team and the willingness to keep pushing," Sybrant said. "Doing the little things had been the breaking point for us, because we had them but it just wasn't clicking all together. This last weekend we proved that we could go to the next level."
The Fillies will likely have to find another level Thursday in their opening match against defending state champion and East Regional winner Laramie.
The Plainsmen (30-1) have won 12 consecutive matches since a 2-1 loss to Kelly Walsh at the Casper Invite on Sept. 21.
"Our conversation (Monday) was, 'OK, you made it and you can be comfortable with that. Or you can really press to do some good stuff.'" McNamee noted. "All the teams are back to being 0-0. There are matches to grab so the girls have to get in that mindset."
Sybrant, who was injured last year as NC failed to qualify for state, is thankful to get one more weekend to be on the court with her teammates.
"We have nothing to lose at this point so we're just going to go all out and give it our best," she said. "I'm just really excited to still be playing."
PHOTOS: Green River defeats Natrona CountyOn Saturday, Natrona County volleyball falls to Green River 3-1 (30-32, 25-18, 25-23, 25-14) at Jerry Dalton Gym in Casper.
