Netters win annual pink match

Lot on the line when Buffs, Lady Bobcats clash Fridayby marlys goodThe Greybull Lady Buffs notched their fourth conference win of the season Thursday night when they rousted the Riverside Rebels in three games, 25-10, 25-14, 25-15.“Riverside is a young team that has improved a lot,” said Coach Sara Schlattmann. “Obviously we were excited to get the conference win.”The gym was filled with fans of both teams, the majority sporting pink T-shirts in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The annual fundraiser realized about $1,500, with all of the proceeds going to the Women’s Wellness Center in Cody.The varsity victory made it a clean sweep for the Buffs. The Greybull developmental team beat the Rebels in two games played Sept. 30, 25-22, 25-20, and the JV Buffs pounded Riverside 25-5, 25-15 in the preliminary match Thursday.Greybull seemed to have momentum going into the opening match of the Greybull/Riverside Duals Friday when they easily handled Wyoming Indian, 25-15, 25-16.That all changed in the second round when the pesky Lady Huskies of Burlington shocked the Buffs, 18-25, 25-13, 12-15.  Greybull seemed out of synch in the first and third games, and the Lady Huskies took advantage of everything Greybull gave them.Greybull played the Lady Cougars from Wind River in the first match Saturday and went down in two games, 25-27, 15-25. It was an exciting match to watch. There were a lot of long volleys that kept the gym rocking, tremendous saves, hard serves and big hits by both teams.After the hard-fought match the Buffs closed out the tournament playing Moorcroft. It was an easy win for Greybull, 25-12, 25-15.Little Snake River and Kemmerer, highly ranked in the 1A and 2A standings respectively, were absent due to the storm that closed South Pass.“The tournament was up and down for us,” said Coach Schlattmann. “I didn’t feel we played our best volleyball. We made a lot of mental errors that cost us games; our serving was not where it should be and I felt our focus wasn’t always there. To beat the good teams we were up against we had to stay focused and it didn’t happen.”The Buffs will need to be focused, serve well and cut down mental errors Friday night when they host the Thermopolis Lady Bobcats.The Lady Buffs are currently in second place in the conference standings with one loss; Thermopolis is nipping at their heels with two losses on the ledger.When the two met in Thermopolis, the Buffs played tough and won in five games so the Bobcats will be looking to avenge that loss.“They have some big hitters and we will have to be strong on defense and communication,” Schlattmann said.“Going into the second half of the season, our goal is to increase our intensity and develop our hitting and blocking while continuing to work on serve and serve receive. I have a great group of girls and I feel they’ll bounce back this week and work hard.”Match times are 2, 3 and 4 p.m.Saturday the Buffs go to Fromberg (Mont.) to play Grass Range/Winnett, coached by Schlattmann’s sister, Katy Johnson.