By Fischer Genau DIGITAL MEDIA LEAD
The Lone Peak High School volleyball team played their first home game of the year on Thursday, losing to a tough Jefferson High School squad in consecutive sets to open an unconventional season.
The Big Horns are only competing at the junior varsity level this year due to a small and very young team, and both the coach and players are seeing it as an opportunity to grow together and develop their skills. Of the eight girls that went out for the team, only one, Avery Graham, is a senior. The team has no juniors, and two sophomores, four freshmen, and an eighth grader round out the squad. Coach Steven Reid said that the players, with input from the parents and athletic director John Hannahs, decided to compete as junior varsity rather than varsity to play in more competitive matches.
“The main goal for this year is to get as many touches as possible,” Reid told EBS. “It’s better for development if we’re playing more competitive games and we’re playing people our age.”
Competition against the Panthers on Thursday was fierce. The Jefferson girls were tall and hit the ball hard, and Big Horn libero Annie Coltea was busy all night trying to withstand their onslaught of jump serves and spikes.
“They understood coming in that this is a tough team,” Reid said. “It was going to be a battle, and they understood that every point they got they would have to work for.”
Points were hard-won against the Panthers, and Jefferson won the first set 25-9 and the second 25-6. The Big Horns rallied in the third, winning several long, competitive volleys, and they trailed by only four halfway through the set before eventually falling 25-12.
No matter the score, whenever the Big Horns earned a point, they erupted in cheers and congratulated their teammates.
“We’re all really closely knit,” Kate O’Connor, a sophomore and team captain, told EBS after the game.
O’Connor said many of them have known each other for a long time and their connection helps them on the court.
“I’m really excited to see the improvement in these girls,” O’Connor said. “We have a young team and a pretty inexperienced one, but I just want to see where we go.”
Reid has also known some of the players for a long time, and he’s looking forward to watching them grow this season. This is his first season as the volleyball head coach, though he served as assistant coach last year and works for the Big Sky Community Organization as their recreation coordinator, a role that includes recreational volleyball.
“I’ve known some of these girls since I moved here…and I’m just excited to be part of their growth and development,” Reid said. “The fact that most of them are gonna be here for another two to three years and their chemistry is so good already says a lot for the future.”
The Big Horns play their next home game against Twin Bridges on Sept. 9 at 5 p.m. Their full fall schedule can be found here.
