Volleyball splits week, wins league game

A league win and a non-league loss may not be a perfect week, but it's definitely better than the reverse.

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos volleyball team fell to Odessa last week on Sept. 17 in non-league play, before beating Tekoa-Rosalia in league play on Sept. 19.

Against Odessa, LRS came out strong and took the first set 21-25. However, that would be the last time they made it past 20. Odessa swept the rest of the way, winning 25-19, 25-16, 25-18.

"Unforced errors came way too often," LRS head coach Cari Galbreath. "That was a hard loss because I feel we should have clinched it. Odessa is a good team and they play very well together. It's good competition for us. But man-for-man, I feel we should have won that game. But we had so many unforced errors, which I think is a result of negative mental energy."

Taylor Galbreath had 13 assists and six kills for the Lady Broncos. Ellie Gering had five aces and nine digs.

For Odessa, Maddy Wagner had 16 digs and Caitlyn Schuh had 10 assists.

Things went all LRS' way against Tekoa-Rosalia as the Lady Broncos won in straight sets, 25-18, 25-17, 25-21.

Galbreath said a number of factors led to the improved result.

"We did have better energy," Galbreath said. "I mixed some rotation things up, with different people on the court at different times. But also, [Tekoa-Rosalia] wasn't nearly as competitive as Odessa ... I'm glad we won, but it's just kind of hard to compare mental state because it just wasn't the same caliber of play."

Brinley Moore had 13 assists and four aces for the visiting Lady Broncos.

Gering had eight digs. Galbreath said she was very impressed with Gering's play all week.

"She played just phenominal defense," Galbreath said. "She was in the zone. It was fun to watch her play defensively. Her passes were on, her serving was incredibly tough ... She just lit it up for us."

Mental energy and toughness is something that Galbreath would like to see improve in her team's play moving forward.

"It seems like when we get into tight and competitive situations we tend to make mistakes instead of executing," Galbreath said.

This week, the Lady Broncos returned home to face Upper Columbia Academy on Tuesday, winning in three sets. They will play in Colfax on Thursday. More information on both games will be in next week's issue of The Journal.