Volleyball team faces tough Cheyenne East squad in first state tournament round Thurs.

The Wolves put up a good fight during the regionals tournament last week, but came away with two losses, against Natrona and Evanston. The Wolves went into regionals as the second seeded, so even with their losses at regionals they have an automatic bye to compete in state. Competing in regionals was to rank their placement in competing for state.

"We fought really hard, but we lost both of our matches so we are going into the state tournament ranked fourth," Coach Rikki Shantz said.

The girls varsity volleyball team now sets their sites on state, preparing throughout the week for the upcoming tournament. The competition starts Thursday and carries on through Friday and Saturday in Casper. Their first match is Thursday, against a powerhouse Cheyenne East squad.

East is undefeated in conference play and has only taken one loss this season. They are the first seed team in the 4A East.

"I'm coming into this week with an attitude like, 'Why not us, why can't we be the one team that beats them this year...'" Shantz said. "We're just preparing for East, and we're preparing for the best team in the state, and then whoever we meet up after that, we'll be prepared for them too."

Shantz said the team passed really well at regionals, at a 2.36 and a 2.48, out of perfect three for their pass ratio.

"Those are pretty close to perfect," she said. "I've never seen a team pass that good in a regional tournament, because everyone's serving tougher, there's nerves ... so I hope they can continue to do that."

Shantz said to beat the opposing teams at State, the girls need to keep their passing up, hit smart around the other teams' blocks, and keep the pressure on. She is confident in her players and their strengths as a team.

"I think we have all the tools to put something together," Shantz said.