Lady Huskies notch two conference wins at home

The Lady Huskies started their full week of games with a highly entertaining match up with conference rival Riverside on Tuesday. “Riverside put up a good fight and exposed some areas we needed to concentrate on,” said Coach Erin Bassett. “It was good to play five full sets. Riverside has a few powerful hitters so it was a good match for us to work on our defense - both at the net and in the back court.” 

Burlington won three sets to two: 26-28, 25-7, 22-25, 25-15, 15-7. 

Paxton Philpott led the team in digs with 21, followed by Naomi McNiven with 15 and Eve McNulty with 12. Sarah McNiven was a force on the net with two solo blocks, six assisted blocks and 18 kills. Philpott had 16 kills, N. McNiven 10 and Hailee Winterholler 10. 

Next up was Meeteetse on Thursday. The Lady Huskies swept all three: 25-15, 25-10 and 25-5. 

The Western Wyoming Volleyball Challenge was on Friday and Saturday, with Burlington facing off first against Saratoga, winning two games to one: 21-25, 25-17, 17-15. “They challenged us by hitting more from the right side than we normally see. With the heavy opposite attack, our right-side defenders got in on more of the action in the back court and even though our kill percentage was lower than normal, our consistent serving led the day. We are starting to see some nice trends in consistency and level headedness when things get tight.” 

Adison Haslam led the team with 12 digs and Orabella Heaton had six. Dalley Bassett had five aces and Eve McNulty added three. 

Farson was the second game of the evening and the Lady Huskies beat them in two sets: 25-14, 25-20. Philpott had 10 kills, S. McNiven had five and Winterholler had four, with Bassett, McNulty and N. McNiven leading from the service line. 

Saturday morning started with No. 1-ranked Little Snake River. “Overall, I thought our girls played well. LSR is tough and covers the court well, but I think we match up with them well. We missed some serves at critical times that determined the game that morning, but we look forward to seeing how another match will play over the potential of five sets.” 

Burlington lost in two games, 21-25, 21-25. Philpott and S. McNiven led from the net with nine kills each, N. McNiven had five and Bassett two. McNulty led the defense with 15 digs, N. McNiven, Philpott and Haslam all added six. 

Encampment was the last game of the tournament and Burlington won both sets, 25-8, 25-21. “Overall it was a good weekend, now we hunker down for conference play and preparation for postseason,” said Bassett. 

The Lady Huskies play Dubois at home on Friday with JV at 4 and varsity at 5 p.m. and will be on the road Saturday in St. Stephens at 11 a.m. and Arapaho at 1 p.m.