RIVERTON – The Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) Lady Lancers volleyball team returned from the SOCO Classic tournament hosted by Trinidad State College in Colorado with two wins and two losses from September 6-7.

EWC sophomore and Cheyenne native Boden Liljedahl reached a career milestone as libero for the Lady Lancers the previous week, snagging the No. 1 spot nationally in the NJCAA for both digs and digs per set. Following the Crystal Classic in Salt Lake City on the last weekend of August, Boden tallied 303 career digs at 6.45 per set.

The SOCO Classic began with a match between the Lady Lancers and their rival, the Lady Cougars from Western Nebraska Community College in a four-set battle.

Western Nebraska won the first two sets, 25-20 and 25-18. Rallying in the third set, the Lady Lancers defeated the Lady Cougars, 25-23.

The high-stakes fourth set came down to the wire, going over 25 points with a deadlock at 29. Western Nebraska scored two points to win the set, 31-29, and post a 3-1 victory.

Freshman outside hitter Amarie Huntsman led the Lady Lancer offense with 19 kills. Fellow freshman Una Stepic tallied 17 kills while sophomore Julia Dolan contributed 14.

Liljedahl covered the floor as libero and posted 31 digs. Sophomore setter Emma Blackstar delivered 40 assists.

Blackstar also aced three serves while Stepic and sophomore Siala Unufe each served two aces.

On defense, both Unufe and Dolan tallied three blocks.

EWC came back in the second match on Friday to sweep Clarendon College, 3-0. The Lady Lancers overwhelmed Clarendon in the first set, 25-11. 

Clarendon found its footing in a close second set, but EWC maintained control of the scoreboard to win, 25-21. The Lady Lancers went on to defeat Clarendon by a 25-21 margin in the third set.

Stepic, Huntsman and Dolan each slammed over 10 kills against Clarendon. Unufe and freshman Annika Cantrell both contributed six kills.

Liljedahl collected 17 digs while Blackstar tallied 23 assists.

EWC totaled six aces against Clarendon, with one apiece by Liljedahl, freshman Mina Milivojevic, freshman Clara Hayhanen, Stepic, Unufe and freshman Hailey Duncan.

Defensively, Unufe reached up for four blocks while Stepic posted two.

On Saturday morning, the Lady Lancers squared off against Trinidad State College in an epic, five set match with Trinidad ultimately winning, 3-2.

The Lady Lancers triumphed in the first two sets, 25-21 and 25-14. Trinidad State turned the tables in the second set to win, 25-21. The fourth set reached a stalemate at 23 before Trinidad State scored two points to prevail, 25-23.

The match came down to a neck-and-neck tiebreaker with the lead switching back and forth with each new point. The set went beyond 15 to tie at 16. Trinidad State pulled ahead by two points to win, 18-16.

EWC totaled 51 kills against Trinidad State, including 11 by both Dolan and Stepic and 10 from Huntsman. Cantrell and Unufe each collected seven kills.

Liljedahl recorded 25 digs while Blackstar delivered 25 assists.

Defensively, Unufe led the Lady Lancers with five blocks. Stepic and Milivojevic each contributed three blocks.

The Lady Lancers returned to the court to trounce Otero College, 3-0, in the final match. EWC won the first set by a 25-18 margin before defeating Otero College in the second and third sets, 25-17 and 25-21.

Stepic tallied 10 kills against Otero College, followed by Dolan with seven, Cantrell six and Unufe five.

As libero, Liljedahl posted 25 digs. Blackstar played setter and contributed 15 assists.

Unufe, Huntsman, Dolan and freshman Adisyn Rollins each collected two blocks.

EWC played Otero College at an away game on Thursday, September 12. Results were not available at press time. The Lady Lancers travel to play Miles Community College on Saturday, September 14.