The Twin City Tournament is always a difficult one. Nebraska is always very competitive. The girls had a few ups and downs, and we allowed too many points in a row to be scored against us at times. This tournament helped us figure out areas  we need to work on and some changes need to be made. We only have three weeks left of the regular season, so it was good to see these weak areas now.”

Coach Shaylee Mortimore

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Torrington hosts Newcastle for Homecoming on Friday, October 11 at 4 p.m. The Lady Blazers are on the road to play Buffalo on Saturday at 4 p.m.

TORRINGTON – The Torrington High School Lady Blazers volleyball team opened a particularly busy weekend on a high note, defeating conference rival Glenrock in a clean sweep at home on Thursday, October 3.

The Lady Blazers boarded the bus for six more matches at the annual Twin City Invite hosted by Scottsbluff and Gering from October 4-5. Torrington went 2-4 at the tournament to clinch sixth place overall. The Lady Blazers defeated Alliance and Burns while falling to Gering, Hastings, Scottsbluff and Alliance a second time.

“The Twin City Tournament is always a difficult one,” coach Shaylee Mortimore said. “Nebraska is always very competitive. The girls had a few ups and downs, and we allowed too many points in a row to be scored against us at times. This tournament helped us figure out areas  we need to work on and some changes need to be made. We only have three weeks left of the regular season, so it was good to see these weak areas now.”

Torrington senior Jaycee Hurley reached an important high school volleyball milestone, posting her 1,000th career dig (and counting) as libero for the Lady Blazers during the Twin Cities Invite.

I’m so proud of Jaycee,” Mortimore added. “She has been such an asset to our team and her hard work has paid off.”

Glenrock

Digging deep, the Lady Blazers scored when it mattered in three point-for-point battles against the Herders to win each set by a 25-21 margin.

Hurley posted 14 digs as libero against Glenrock. Junior Natalie Long played setter and delivered 16 assists.

Senior Olive Osmera set the pace offensively against Glenrock with 12 kills. Long tallied seven kills, freshman Ellis Mortimore six, junior Brooklyn Asmus five, senior Teryn Stokes three, junior Trishell Pontarolo two and Hurley one.

On the service line, Osmera aced five serves. Long served up a pair of aces while Asmus, Hurley and Mortimore each contributed one ace.

Defensively, Stokes recorded one block.

Twin City Invite

Torrington defeated Alliance in three sets, 2-1. Alliance won the first set, 27-25, before Torrington turned the tables to win second and third sets, 25-22 and 25-21, respectively.

Osmera led Torrington in kills against Alliance with 11. Mortimore aced three serves while Stokes and junior Nakaya Sippel both reached up for a block. Hurley tallied 13 digs and Long 21 assists.

Torrington fell to Hastings in the second match, 25-15 and 25-18.

Osmera set the momentum for the Lady Blazers against Hastings with seven kills. Long aced a serve and defended the net with a block. Stokes tallied two blocks. Hurley posted nine digs and Long made 13 assists.

In the third match, Torrington came up short against Gering in two sets, 25-18 and 25-19.

Osmera tallied six kills against Gering. Osmera, Mortimore and Pontarolo each aced one serve. Long and Pontarolo both tallied one block. Hurley covered the floor with 10 digs and Long set up 11 assists.

The fourth match pitted Torrington against Scottsbluff. The Lady Blazers won a neck-and-neck first set, 25-23, before falling in the second and third sets, 25-21 and 25-19.

Asmus led Torrington in kills against Scottsbluff with 15. Long, Mortimore and Pontarolo each tallied one ace while Mortimore and Stokes both reached up for two blocks.

Hurley recorded 10 digs with Mortimore delivering 13 assists.

Torrington rebounded in the fifth match to defeat Burns in two sets, 25-16 and 25-13.

Stokes tallied five kills and two blocks and Asmus aced five serves. Hurley added 10 digs to her tally for the weekend and Long posted nine assists.

The final match pitted Torrington against Alliance with Alliance winning, 2-1. Torrington won the first set, 26-24 and fell in the second and third sets, 25-14 and 26-24, respectively.

Osmera, Asmus, Pontarolo and Stokes each totaled five kills. Asmus aced three serves and defended the net with three blocks.

Long passed for 11 assists and Hurley rounded the weekend out with 15 digs.