Ladies Huskies show growth at North Big Horn tournament as volleyball season gets underway

The North Big Horn Tournament always provides the Lady Huskies opportunities to go up against some bigger teams and this past weekend was no exception. Pool play was a little thrown off Friday when a team unexpectedly didn’t show, but Coach Erin Bassett said it worked to their advantage. “Instead of disturbing the other pool, we opted to divide up matches and play each team twice. It was great because not only did we get an additional match, but we got to play teams we won’t play later in the season.”
Friday saw the Lady Huskies fall to Greybull first with final scores of 17-25, 15-25 and later with final scores of 23-25, 15-25. They also fell to Tongue River with final scores of 18-25, 24-25 and later 22-25, 10-25. “Both Greybull and Tongue River gave us many opportunities to work on blocks, setting on our side and hitting through or around them,” said Bassett. “We don’t always see strong blocks until the postseason, so it was good to see them right out of the gates.
“Our objective this weekend was to play aggressively instead of safely. Last year, we were such a young team that sometimes we just played to keep up and keep it in - that approach won’t get us to where we want to end the season. I was really proud of the girls for pushing themselves to play more aggressively; we missed a few more serves than usual and hit some balls into the net or out of bounds, but that was expected and a price we were willing to pay in the early season.”
During the Tongue River game, the Lady Huskies lost a setter due to injury. “Adison Haslam became our only setter and stepped up to the challenge. Setters carry a lot of responsibility for the team and as a new varsity setter, I was proud of the way she handled the pressure,” said Bassett. “We played the rest of the tournament in that modified line up and everyone worked hard to settle into the change.”
Friday’s losses bumped Burlington to the Brown bracket on Saturday. The first game was against Dubois, which they won with final scores of 25-22, 25-11. “We were down several points in the first set before we found a way to control our own tempo,” said Bassett. “Dubois is always scrappy and finds a way to return the ball, but it was a very different game than the games we played the day before. It was nice to get a little preview of what we can expect when we go into conference play.”
The Lady Huskies finished the day in their bracket’s championship game against Rocky’s JV team, which they won 25-12, 25-11.  “It was a good opportunity for our team to run some of the new offense options that they have been practicing. Overall, it was a good weekend for our teams for growth and we look forward to the rest of the season,” ended Bassett.
The Lady Huskies will play in Meeteetse on Saturday with the JV starting at noon and the varsity at 1:30 p.m.