Volleyball team earns bye to state tournament

The Green River High School Volleyball Team has an automatic bye into the state tournament in Casper next weekend.

However, the team won't be overlooking regionals at Kelly Walsh High School this weekend. Head coach Rikki Shantz said Green River, with the No. 2 seed in the west, will only compete Saturday as a result of their bye. Evanston High School, the No. 1 seed, also skips Friday's competition. This is also the first time Green River has had an automatic bye since 2009.

Shantz said she's working with her team to help them during the regional tournament, where she hopes Green River will perform well enough to get pitted against a lower seed team in the state tournament.

While other sports have a few players who are skilled enough to make standout performances while playing, Shantz said her team's greatest advantage is they function well as a team. She said Katie Banks has performed strong in the middle while Lauressa Tramp and Andri Dewey have excelled on the outside of their formation. She believes the best libero in the state is Green River's Averee Cobb, while Hattie Hix has positioned herself as one of the best setters. She also said Taylor Stoeger and Mariah Morin have continually made great plays that have helped the team as well.

"It's pretty much a team effort," Shantz said.

Volleyball results

Green River's record is 7-3 in the conference and 18-9 overall.

On Oct. 23, Green River beat Riverton in three sets, winning 25-23, 27-25 and 25-20. Green River fell to Evanston Oct. 20 in four sets, losing the first 19-25, winning the second 25-20, then losing the third and fourth 23-25 and 23-25.