Eight lettermen anchor Lady Rebel net team as action begins Friday

By: 
Marlys Good

Eight returning lettermen are back to anchor the 2021 Riverside Lady Rebel volleyball team. The eight include seniors Valeria DeNiz, Jersey Streitz and Dailyn Zierolf; all-conference/all-state juniors Caroline Schlattmann and Vaidyn VanderPloeg plus Hailee McClure and Laila Davis. Rounding out the eight is sophomore Dakota Cervantes

Coach Cindi Smith said the Rebels are happy to have senior Braelyn Kozisek, a transfer from Kaycee, join the program.

Notable for her absence will be junior Victory Buck, who has moved to Cody.

“We miss having her as a part of our volleyball family and wish her the best,” Coach Smith said.

Looking forward, Smith said the main focus thus far has been “providing opportunities to develop fundamental skills, getting as many ball contacts as we can prior to our first weekend out.”

The unity of the team will be a major strength, she believes.

Smith has a new assistant this coach as the Rebels welcomed Cassidy Winland into their volleyball family

The weekend action will give the coaches an excellent opportunity to assess strengths and weaknesses with both levels getting excellent competition.

The varsity action is in Lovell with Friday filled with pool games. Riverside shares a pool with Tongue River, Meeteetse and Lovell. Saturday the bracketed tournament will seed teams depending on their win/loss records from their individual pools.

The Rebels open Friday at 3:30 p.m. on Court 1 facing Lovell. They do a quick turnaround and challenge Tongue River at 4:30 p.m. before closing out the day facing Meeteetse at 6:30 p.m.

Saturday’s bracketed tournament starts at 9 a.m. with the game for third and fourth scheduled at 2 p.m.

The championship match is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

Meanwhile, over in Cowley the young JV team kicks off Friday with a match against Tongue River at 2:30. They do get a breather before their final match which will be at 5:30 versus the host Lady Grizzlies.

Saturday the Rebels have just one match, but it’s against perennial rival Greybull. The teams get after it at 10 a.m.

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