Young varsity squad starts the season for the Lady Broncos

The Lady Broncos began their season playing against the Warden Lady Cougars as well as matching against multiple teams in the Bronco Invite.

On Thursday, Sept. 10, in their match up in Warden the Lady Broncos fell to the Lady Cougars 1-25, 15-25 and 13-25.

The team was also down three of their veteran starters, Madison Harder, Tessa Jantz and Peyton Curtis. Head Coach Cari Galbreath said that “nerves were very present,” in this team’s first time on the court.

Though the team may have looked young and green, they were able to test out positions for the players and see how the team worked together.

Lacey Miller and Kierstin Witt were able to play up from junior varsity in their first high school varsity match. Miller helped lead the team with four assists and two digs. Witt additionally helped offensively with two aces and defensively with two digs.

Tessa O’Brien emerged as a defensive key for the team leading with five digs; O’Brien also led the team in hitting with two kills.

While the team struggled with communication and unforced errors they were able to take their mistakes and turn around to play on Saturday, Sept. 17, in the Bronco Invite.

Saturday the Lady Broncos were able to play with most of their varsity team except for Harder. Two veterans not present at the Thursday game, Curtis and Jantz, were unable to play for a week and a half due to concussions, but were cleared for play on Saturday.

In the first match versus Odessa-Harrington, the Lady Broncos were unable to secure a win against the Lady Titans with set scores of 20-25 and 21-25.

Alisha Baker and Sierra Kiel played up from junior varsity for the Bronco Invite replacing Harder as middle hitters. The tournament gave them, as well as the rest of the team, lots of playing experience. It served as Curtis’ first opportunity to serve as the primary setter for the team.

During the match against Odessa-Harrington, the Lady Broncos struggled to keep in the rhythm of the match. The team failed to get serves in, causing the LRS squad to give up multiple points.

Midway through the second set, the Lady Broncos had a successful rally with Odessa-Harrington. The rally helped bring intensity back to the LRS team, and the Lady Broncos managed to battle back and close the scoring gap.

In the second match against the Cusick Lady Panthers, the Lady Broncos were unable to secure the overall win with scores of 12-25, 25-22 and 4-15.

Though they lost the first set, the Lady Broncos were able to show some intensity and won the second set.

Unfortunately in the third set they were unable to cinch a victory due to multiple communication errors and low serving percentages.

In the third match of the day the Lady Broncos walked off the court with a win. They took down the Northport Lady Tigers with set scores of 23-25, 25-20 and 15-3.

While there were still unforced errors during these three matches the team improved in confidence and intensity as the day progressed.

Their upcoming game on Thursday, Sept. 17, versus Columbia Burbank gives the team another chance at communication, as the full team will be present.

This game will be held at the Gilson Gymnasium at 7 p.m.

The Lady Broncos host their first league game against St. George’s on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 6:30 p.m.