Team wraps pre-season

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The first three weeks of the Lady Dogies 2019 volleyball season has seen the team in tournament action, and each week head coach Jenny Willard has been pleased to see improvement from her squad. 
Last Friday and Saturday, the varsity and junior varsity teams travelled to Rawlins for a tournament where they got to see many 3A teams in action, and got a timely sneak peek at Thermopolis and Buffalo who are slated to be their first conference matchups this week.
“I was very pleased with some of the things I saw this weekend,” Willard nodded. “While consistency was still a little up and down, there were times when we played extremely well and were executing the areas of the game that we have been working on in practice lately.”
The ladies began tournament play on Friday taking on the Lady Blazers of Torrington. The Goshen County squad got the better of Newcastle in two sets, defeating them 21-13 and 21-14, however, Willard was pleased to see her team competing with their 3A East opponent.
The Lady Dogies spent last week working on maintaining a high level of play, regardless of their competition, and when they stepped on the court to take on Big Piney in their next matchup, Willard saw her squad implement exactly that.
“The girls played really well against them,” she smiled. “They didn’t lower their level of play, and they kept up their momentum so that was really great to see.”
The intensity the team brought to the court showed itself in the final scores as the Lady Dogies dominated the Punchers in two quick sets, 21-9 and 21-13.
Their final match had Newcastle facing off against Powell who has proven to be a challenging opponent in past years. Though the Panthers defeated the Lady Dogies in two sets, Newcastle made them work for every point. The first set was a battle with Powell squeaking out the 21-20 win, and then in the second, they once again bested Newcastle 21-16.
“We competed against Powell and really played them well,” Willard declared. “The girls really fought and didn’t let down which is exactly what we want to see.”
The Lady Dogies’ pool play record placed them in the silver bracket where they took on Lovell Saturday morning, defeating them in two sets 21-10 and 21-8. 
“Lovell went to three with Burns, who we lost to last weekend,” Willard began. “So after we beat them pretty soundly, I told the girls that they are right there, competing with everyone.”
The second match of the day had the squad pitted against Buffalo, who always presents a challenge for Newcastle. Though the Lady Bison ultimately walked away with the win, they had to go to three sets to get it.
“We were down 0-3 in the first set, so we called a quick time out to try to get momentum back our way” Willard explained. “We were making some silly errors, but then they dug down deep, and worked really hard to win the first set 21-18.”
Unfortunately, Newcastle was unable to sustain their initial momentum and went on to drop the next two sets 8-21 and 3-15.
“The girls came out in the first set with a different energy. They were excited and were really playing as a team,” Willard exclaimed. “Even though we let down a little after that, we are focusing on what we did well in the first set and building on that as we go forward.
The third and final game of the tournament ended in a two set loss - 17-21 and 16-21 - to the Lady Bobcats of Thermopolis, landing Newcastle in fourth place on the day. 
“We were ahead in the first set by eight points or better, so keeping momentum when we have it is something we need to improve upon,” Willard admitted. “Certainly, we didn’t end where we wanted to in fourth place, but overall it was a positive weekend and I’m excited about the progress we are making.”
The Lady Dogies will begin conference play, and finally host their home opener this Thursday in their Homecoming contest against Thermopolis. Then the squad will travel to Buffalo for another conference matchup on Saturday.
“I feel confident going into this week, and it was really nice to see both our opponents in a non-conference environment prior to the conference matchups,” Willard stated. “Each weekend, we just seem to be getting better and better. The girls are coming to practice with a good mind-set and have the drive to do well in practice. They are putting in the work and looking like they have potential which is exciting.”
At the subvarsity level, the Lady Dogies junior varsity and freshmen squads had successful weekends. The JV team fell in the championship match against Rawlins taking second place in the silver bracket, while the freshmen were champions of the gold bracket in their tournament in Buffalo on Saturday.