Burlington teams put up a fight in Kaycee

The Lady Huskies were on the road last week, taking on Greybull Thursday and attending the Kaycee Tournament Friday and Saturday. “All around we had a great weekend,” said Coach Erin Bassett. “It was filled with volleyball and lots of opportunities for growth for both our JV and varsity teams.” 

The JV team filled an extra spot on the Kaycee JV bracket and was scheduled to play six matches. “With one of the varsity teams unable to play on Friday, it was decided that the top JV team would get to play in the Silver bracket the next day. Our JV team played fantastic all day long. They were able to beat every other JV team there. They played some teams twice and beat them twice, except for Upton, who also had a great JV team. After winning five of the six games, they made it to the Silver bracket on Saturday. They were exhausted, but excited to compete against varsity teams.” 

They won their first match against Ft. Washakie, 25-18, 25-18, and won against Arvada Clearmont, 19-25, 25-17, 15-7. They lost to Kaycee’s varsity, 21-25, 21-25, and lost to Guernsey-Sunrise, 23-25, 20-25. 

“They did awesome,” said Bassett. “I believe on a day they were fresh they could potentially beat those teams as well. Eleven matches from Thursday to Saturday was a lot of volleyball.

“Our varsity didn’t clock in quite as many matches, but they had a great weekend as well. We were happy to add a game with Greybull on Thursday, it helped get us back in the feel of competitive, high-intensity matches.” 

The games were close but Burlington struggled, losing all three games, 25-27, 21-25, 16-25. 

Saturday in Kaycee, the Lady Huskies faced off against Guernsey-Sunrise, taking both games easily, 25-12, 25-8. “They came out swinging,” said Bassett. “They communicated well and worked as a team. Naomi McNiven had an excellent blocking game; our stats are not available yet, but she did a phenomenal job of
blocking solo and assisting other blockers on the net.” 

The next game was against Upton, a team Burlington split sets with at a previous tournament. “We were excited for a rematch and it was a good game,” said Bassett. “They had one of their strong hitters and blockers back from an injury so we knew it would be a tough match. Our girls played well but Upton did a good job defending and gave us some good practice in what to do when we are triple blocked.” The Lady Huskies won one set and lost two, 25-18, 23-25, 10-15. 

Another win against Kaycee secured the Gold Bracket for Saturday, where they beat Encampment in the first round, winning 25-18, 12-25, 15-10. They made fairly quick work of Lusk, winning 25-19, 25-11. They matched up against Upton one more time and lost both games 12-25, 19-25. The tournament was a true double elimination bracket and the loss put them back up against Lusk who upset the Lady Huskies, 22-25, 25-21, 14-15. 

“It was a little maddening to lose to a team you have beaten soundly earlier in the day, but when there is a cap on the score, you have to get it done when it is time,” said Bassett. “It was a good day of competition, but it was also an incredibly long second day. We didn’t win as many as we would have liked, but we definitely got lots of mental and physical practice. Learning how to compete when you’re tired is important. I was proud of each of our girls all weekend long, they hustled well, they worked together as a team and had lots of great moments.” 

The Lady Huskies will host Riverside Friday for Senior Night. The JV will play at 5 and the varsity at 6 p.m.