SUNDANCE – Coming in as the No. 1 seed from the southeast conference, the Southeast Lady Cyclones faced tough opponents at the 2A East Regional Tournament, falling in two games to end their season.
The Lady Cyclones opened up the tournament against Upton, the fourth seed from the northeast. The Lady Bearcats immediately jumped out to a 4-1 lead and grew that lead to 8-3, forcing a Southeast timeout. Coming out of the break, Southeast trimmed the deficit to three points twice, but Upton continued their roll, ballooning their lead to 18-10 on an ace.
Southeast clawed their way back, bringing the score to 18-15, but Upton went on a 6-2 run to grow their lead to 24-17. Hailey Anderson refused to let the first set end, scoring on a kill and a tip, but the Lady Bearcats picked up the final point to win 25-19.
Upton continued their hot play into the second set, taking a 9-4 lead, which grew to 16-8 before Southeast started their comeback. With a Lady Bearcat coming under the net, Southeast trimmed the lead to 18-14.
Later, Whitney Foos connected on back-to-back aces to put the Lady Cyclones down 21-19. Anderson recorded a kill followed by an ace to put Southeast down 23-22, before Upton scored on a kill. Two Upton errors knotted the score at 24, before the Lady Bearcats scored two in a row to seal the win, 26-24.
The Lady Cyclones picked up momentum in the end of the second set and carried it into the third set, winning 25-19. Upton fended off Southeast in the fourth set, 25-21, to seal the Lady Cyclone loss.
Anderson paced the Lady Cyclones in both kills, with 24, and digs, with 19. She rounded out her stat line with an ace. Ellie Schmitt made contributions across the board, racking up 18 kills, 10 digs, an ace, a block and a team-high 22 assists. Kassidy McClun was not far behind in assists, accounting for 20, while adding four digs.
Foos had a great game at the service line, pacing Southeast in aces with three. She also had nine digs. Kelci Lovercheck kicked in eight digs, while Breann Hort had one dig and a team-high three blocks. Macie Murphy, Morgan Ekwall and Sheridan Pragnell combined for an ace, a kill, six digs and a block.
In the lower bracket, Southeast met a common opponent in Pine Bluffs. The two teams split the regular season series 1-1 and the postseason matchup did not disappoint, with the widest margin of victory at seven points in the five-set match.
The Lady Cyclones picked up a win in the first set, 25-22, before the Lady Hornets exacted their revenge. Pine Bluffs won the second set 25-18 and third set 25-22. Facing elimination in the fourth set, Southeast came out win a win, 25-19, forcing a winner advances/ loser out fifth set. Pine Bluffs rose to the challenge, winning the set 15-9, ending Southeast’s season.
Anderson was again a force at the net, accounting for 21 kills and a block, which she paired with an ace and 13 digs. Schmitt also made significant contributions at the net, racking up 13 kills and two blocks. She led the way for Southeast with 20 assists, while tallying an ace, 13 digs and two blocks.
McClun and Foos both had solid games in the back line with 11 digs apiece, while McClun added 16 assists to her stat line. Lovercheck and Murphy each had an ace and combined for 10 digs. Hort and Ekwall kicked in three digs apiece, while Pragnell added two digs and a kill.
The Lady Cyclones finished the season 16-10. Sundance, Wright, Big Horn and Lusk are the four teams set to represent the east at the state tournament in Casper this weekend.
