TORRINGTON – Eastern Wyoming College first year coach Judd Wisener and his team have made it a goal to reach the Region IX Tournament this season.
After starting the season 1-15, they face an uphill battle to accomplish the goal, but the Lady Lancers took a large step towards that goal this weekend, picking up Region IX North Division wins against Western Wyoming Community College and Casper College.
“The two wins kind of puts a target on our backs,” Wisener said. “A lot of our motivation has been, we want to make it to the Region IX tournament since they’ve changed the format.”
On Friday, the Lady Lancers won the first two sets 25-21 and 25-20, but the Mustangs prevented the sweep with a 25-20 win in the third set.
The Lady Lancers bounced back in the fourth set with a 25-23 win to record the team’s first division victory and second overall win of the year.
“It started out really good. We were serving and passing well. In the third set, we kind of let it go,” Wisener said. “We came back in the fourth set and put our foot back on the gas. The girls did a very good job of that because I was scared if we had gone to a fifth, you never know who’s going to win.”
Sophomore Makenna Reinert led the team with 17 kills, while freshman Ana Djurovic added 13 and freshman Hannah Pharr 10. Freshman Avery West tallied nine. Sophomore Halle Hogan dished out 21 assists, while freshmen Viktoria Sarbakova and Pandora Keele had five assisted blocks in the match.
The next day, the Lady Lancers raced out to a 10-3 lead behind a trio of kills by Djurovic en route to a 25-20, 25-18, 25-23 victory.
“The last couple of weeks, we have been targeting and focusing on what the other team is doing and how do we stop it,” Wisener said. “The girls have done a great job of responding to that. Today was an excellent point to prove, that they can do anything they put their minds to.”
However, Casper wasn’t going to go away. The visiting Thunderbirds battled back and took a 16-12. The four-point lead was as large of a lead as Casper had in the set.
Reinerts ace put EWC back in front for good.
The Lady Lancers kept the momentum going into the second set, jumping out to a 9-3 lead. EWC never trailed in the second set.
In the final set, the Thunderbirds did everything they could to prevent the sweep. Their lead reached 11-4 before Eastern Wyoming mounted a comeback.
A double hit by the visitors tied the match at 19 and a Djurovic kill gave EWC a 20-19 lead. It was a lead which the Lady Lancers never trailed for the remainder of the match.
“We were down as many as five points most of the set, and we were able to put our minds to it, put our foot on the gas and win the set,” Wisener said.
Djurovic tallied 16 kills.
“If we give her good sets, she’ll put the ball down no matter where she’s at,” Wisener said. “She’s so good at, not only jumping, but she’s also so smart with the ball. It usually works in our favor when she is hitting the ball.”
West and Reinert had eight kills apiece. Reinert served up a team-high three aces, while Reinert had 12 digs.
Wisener hopes to keep the momentum going in their favor moving forward.
“A lot of it is, just staying focused at practice this week and getting a grip on what they do well,” Wisener said. “A lot of it is just the girls being excited about it because it’s another chance to win.”
The Lady Lancers (3-15 overall and 2-2 in the Region IX North) are back home on Friday, Oct. 7 against Laramie County Community College. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
