Lady Rebels lose to Greybull, bounce back versus Dubois

Everyone who attended the Pink Game last Tuesday, October 1, against non-conference opponent Greybull knows that it was a close match and a loss hard taken. The Riverside Rebels and the Buffs stayed extremely close in score for the most part. It was an exciting event as both sides of the stands roared for their squad.

The Rebels’ serving was at 82%, which is lower than they wanted to be, although Johnna Clifford’s individual serving was at 100%, with Brooklynn following behind with 92%. Kennedy Bassett had 25 assists, with five aces. Vinaya VanderPloeg led in kills with 16, with Paxton close behind with nine. The Rebels also were able to rack up a decent number of digs — Paxton with 41 and VanderPloeg with 13. The final scores were 22-25, 24-26, 30-32.

“Our team is focused on pulling together and growing stringer as a unit when facing struggles. We didn’t reach our serving goal or serve receive capabilities against Greybull,” said Coach Cindi Smith. “However, we turned around and established one of our highest serving and serve receive percentages of the season in our match against Dubois a few days later.”

The game in Dubois was won in five sets: 20-25, 25-23, 25-15, 26-28, 15-2. The Rebels serving was at 93% and they totaled 70 kills, 67 assists, and 124 digs. Josie Long led in serving with 100% of hers making it over the net. Paxton got 97% of hers over. Paxton also had six aces while Varissa Olsen had three. Bassett led in assists with 64, and Paxton produced 45 digs while VanderPloeg brought 34 to the game.

“We need to work to lower the number of unforced errors as we move closer to tournament time,” said Smith. “This will be one of the keys to our success against strong teams. The girls did a good job staying aggressive and attacking open areas against Dubois. When we pass well, it is fun to see our frontline shine as we are able to get into system.”

“It was nice to have the past weekend off as we have been dealing with some illnesses and injuries and it gave us the opportunity to rest up and rejuvenate. We will use this week to focus on our defensive and offensive transitions. This will help with our efficiency on the court. As always, serving and passing will also be at the top of our priority list.”

The team is heading to Kaycee for its final regular season tournament this weekend. They open pool play Friday at noon against Midwest.