Lady Huskies attend 1A jamboree

The Burlington Lady Huskies had a busy week of volleyball, traveling to St. Stephens and to Saratoga. 

“It was a great week with quite a mixture of different paced games,” said Coach Erin Bassett. 

First up for Burlington was St. Stephens, who they beat in three games: 25-4, 25-14, 25-6. “One of our targets has been to increase our serving percentage and the girls really took it to heart, the first set we served 100% and 94% overall for the night,” said Bassett. “It is always a good exercise in focus when we play St. Stephens because you never know how or when the ball will be returned, it keeps the players on their toes.” 

Friday, the Lady Huskies headed to Saratoga for a 1A jamboree. “We were really excited about this new addition to our schedule,” said Bassett. “Most years we don’t get to see teams from those other conferences until regionals or state, so it was a great opportunity to match up with them early in the season.” 

The Lady Huskies fell to Southeast, losing 22-25, 16-25. “It really did come down to inches, we had a few more errors, missed serves and narrowly missed assignments, but overall I was pleased with our effort,” Bassett said. “It was a great first match, to get us back in the mindset to play tough teams that have big hitters and blockers.” 

Burlington handled the next two teams easily, beating Rock River 25-17,  25-9, and Fort Washakie, 25-10, 25-12. “They were still good matches and opportunities to play and we got some of our younger players in for some varsity experience as well. Hannah Stanworth, Orabella Heaton, Kate Preator and Olivia Oilar stepped up and got some meaningful touches in.” 

The real excitement came on Saturday, when the power went out for the whole valley. “There were a lot of conversations with officials, coaches and admins about what to do,” said Bassett. “Without an estimation of when the power would be restored, it put teams in a tough spot needing to decide how long they could wait before needing to head home. At one point they brought in a generator and some flood lights to try and get one court going, but after a few minutes, they caught on fire and no one was brave enough to try a different set of lights. After a few hours, the WHSAA gave permission to start on the courts that had light from the exterior doors. I was happy we were not the first team scheduled to play; there was some natural light but you couldn’t see the light colored lines on the floor and serve receive was going to be difficult. Luckily, toward the end of that match, the lights turned on and we could roll forward.” 

The first match of the day was against Lusk. The Lady Huskies lost the first set 22-25 but took the next two games 25-16 and 15-9. They won both games against Hanna Elk Mountain,  25-17, 25-10. 

The final match of the weekend was against Upton. The Bobcats won the first set 21-17 but the Lady Huskies came back and won the last game 21-19.

 “Overall, I feel like it was a successful weekend for us, we lost a few sets but we learned a lot of lessons about how we can’t expect to passively win,” said Bassett. “All of the girls had excellent moments this weekend and growing moments. Sarah McNiven, Paxton Philpott, Dalley Bassett and Hailee Winterholler are getting more confident and more efficient hitting the ball. Hailee has been working really hard and her kill percentage showed it this weekend. Naomi McNiven is always one of our best defenders, but she is also the most reliable from the service line. She served 68 times over the week and only missed once! Adison Haslam and Breanne Walker are a great duo to have setting the ball for us. It is amazing to watch their confidence and ball sense grow every week. They are both flourishing in this role,” said Bassett. 

In another packed week, the Lady Huskies faced Riverside on Tuesday night in Basin. They will host Wyoming Indian on Thursday at 4 and 5:00 p.m. and will have the Bobcat Invite on Friday and Saturday.