This would not have happened if I wasn’t surrounded by girls who were willing to work hard and believe in the system. I knew they could fight through anything and that took me through the ups and downs.”

Coach George Hamilton

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The Lady Lancers travel to play Western Wyoming on October 11 at 6 p.m.

TORRINGTON – A pair of conference victories by the Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) Lady Lancers against Northwest College and Central Wyoming College resulted in two milestones for the program.

Head coach George Hamilton rang in his 400th career victory following EWC’s win against Central Wyoming College on Saturday, October 5. 

The Lady Lancers also maintained their season winning streak, scoring two more victories against Northwest on Friday and Central Wyoming the following day for a 4-0 conference record. EWC also improved its winning streak to 10 matches.

Hamilton credited all the “great” athletes under his guidance throughout a successful 31-year coaching career.

“This would not have happened if I wasn’t surrounded by girls who were willing to work hard and believe in the system,” Hamilton said. “I knew they could fight through anything and that took me through the ups and downs.”

Hamilton served as head volleyball coach for 23 years at several programs. 

Hamilton coached all levels of volleyball, from club teams finishing 10th at nationals to a high-school team ranked 19th in the nation and playing in the regional finals games on four different occasions at the college level.

Two conference victories

The action for the Lady Lancers opened with a 3-1 victory against Northwest College on Friday. Northwest threw the first punch with a win in the opening set, 25-15.

EWC responded in the second set to beat Northwest, 25-18. Riding this momentum, the Lady Lancers won the third and fourth sets, 25-21 and 25-14, respectively.

Throughout the season, the Lady Lancers have demonstrated the ability to dig deep and recover from setbacks.

“Our team really talks about what we can improve on and what we need to do in the next set,” sophomore libero Boden Liljedahl said after the Central game. “That gets our energy going, our fire going. Our biggest thing is lowering our errors and fixing them.”

Part of EWC’s success lies in setting high standards, sophomore middle blocker Siala Unufe said.

“We all have the same goal in mind,” Unufe added. “We hold ourselves accountable at practice and games are no different.”

Hamilton also credited the team’s strong chemistry.

“That family mentality is a big reason why we’re able to come together when things are going badly,” Hamilton noted. “That helps us come back when we need to come together.”

Unufe agreed:

“We play with love. We’re all here to support each other. At the end of the day, we lose together and we win together.”

On Saturday, the Lady Lancers hit the ground running against Central Wyoming, winning the first two sets, 25-13 and 25-22.

Central Wyoming came back and won the third set, 25-19. Roaring back in the fourth set, the Lady Lancers trounced Central Wyoming, 25-13. 

Winning the opening sets played a decisive role in propelling EWC to victory against Central Wyoming, Liljedahl said.

“We haven’t been winning that first set (this season),” Liljedahl added. “So our focus (on Saturday) was to take it to Central Wyoming with our energy and the game will come. Winning that first set and winning the next was crucial. It was one point at a time.”

EWC’s opening wins demonstrated the team’s ability to control the mental game.

“At the beginning of the year, we kind of struggled mentally,” Unufe said. “We’ve learned to be mentally tough and that’s a huge part of the game this season. We rely on each other. We know we’re here to support each other.”

Liljedahl felt the tide finally turning against Cheyenne Central midway into the fourth set when Unufe anchored EWC’s comeback with a series of aces.

“Honestly when Siala was going on that run, I was on the sidelines going, ‘We’ve got this!’ Liljedahl added. “We were just taking it to them, point after point. Central could not hang with us.”

Hamilton said EWC’s 10-game winning streak is putting the program on the map, especially against nationally ranked teams like Central Wyoming.

“We knew this was going to be a good game because (Central) had been receiving votes nationally over the last month,” Hamilton remarked. “We felt like we needed this match to show that we’re a team that everyone needs to respect in the conference. We want to get out there and play hard.”

“We know how to win,” Liljedahl said. “That’s why we’re going on this momentum.”

Friday stats

Freshman Annika Cantrell led EWC in kills against Northwest College at 12. Freshmen Una Stepic and Amarie Huntsman and sophomore Belle Dolan each tallied eight kills.

Sophomore Baylor Rodgers delivered 24 assists with fellow sophomore Emma Blackstar contributing 18.

Liljedahl totaled 25 digs as libero.

At the service line, Unufe posted two aces with one apiece by freshman Vladana Ristic, sophomore Neeley Rutledge and Blackstar.

Defensively, Unufe set the momentum with five blocks.

Saturday stats

Four Lady Lancers slammed over double digit kills against Central Wyoming, led by Stepic with 12, Dolan 11 and Unufe and Huntsman both 10.

Blackstar tallied 24 assists and Liljedahl 24 digs while Unufe aced five serves.

EWC excelled at defending the net against Central Wyoming. Unufe posted seven blocks, Dolan six with three from Cantrell, two by freshman Mina Milivojevic and one from freshman Adisyn Rollins.