Lady Broncos volleyball split pair of league matches

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos volleyball team split a pair of matches last week as they hit the halfway point of league play.

The Lady Broncos took care of business in their match on Sept. 25, dispatching Reardan in three sets: 25-17, 25-13 and 25-16. It’s the sixth consecutive victory for LRS against Reardan, a win streak that dates back to the 2015 season.

Eliza Galbreath led the way with 10 kills and three blocks in the match, while Lacey Miller recorded 21 digs, 18 assists and two aces.

The Lady Broncos lost their toughest match of the season four days later on Sept. 29, falling to Asotin in a five-set thriller.

Asotin started quick out of the gate and nabbed the first set, 25-15, but LRS rebounded decisively to win the second and third sets, 25-22 and 25-19, to pull ahead in the match.

The Lady Broncos led throughout much of the fourth set, but Asotin managed to narrowly win 25-23 to level the match at two sets apiece before winning the fifth and deciding set 15-11.

Galbreath led LRS in kills with 14, while Mercedes Miller piled up seven aces in the match.

Head Coach Cari Galbreath said while it was a tough loss for her squad, she believes it confirmed they can compete for the top seed in the district and play with the best.

“The positives I can take away [from the last two matches] is that we’re right in it, at the top of the league,” said Galbreath.

“It can be, I feel, anybody’s game. So I think with our young team that if we can just get some more experience by playing together throughout these next couple of weeks, we should be able to get the big wins.”

The Lady Broncos now sit at 2-3 in league play and 3-4 overall as they begin the second half of league play this week with home matches against Tekoa-Rosalia on Oct. 2 and Colfax on Oct. 4.

LRS beat Tekoa-Rosalia in three sets in their first meeting on Sept. 13, and fell to Colfax in four sets on Sept. 18.

Galbreath believes the young team is continuing to play better as a unit and collectively growing more comfortable with the pace of the game at the varsity level as they enter the last half of the season.

LRS also has a non-league game on the schedule this week, as they face Tri-Cities Prep on Oct. 6 at Pasco High School.

Galbreath said that it is good to play teams outside of their own district to know what kind of competition they may face in the postseason play.