By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
In a race to 25, the Lone Peak High School Big Horns started strong last night, Sept. 12, with a first game win. Ultimately, the Ennis High School Mustangs moved ahead, winning the next three games for an overall victory at the LPHS gym. The Big Horns’ harmony in the first game resurged in the fourth with a comeback in the last five points, though the Big Horns lost 25-20.
With a current record of 0-3, head coach Ashley Muckway said the girls are hungry for a victory and it showed in the final game. “I think they just want it,” Muckway said. “I think they just want that win, and they know in order to do it, they have to keep composed.”
“We’ve been working all week on fire, and intensity, and self confidence, and I think that’s what you saw tonight,” Muckway recalled, describing practices since their game against Three Forks. “That’s why I think they kept their composure,” she said of the final game.
Composure was necessary against the Mustangs’ successful blocking and swift kills. Junior Isabelle Hawkinson of the Mustangs accomplished more than six kills in the second game alone, on top of successful serves. That game ended in an 18-25 loss for LPHS. The loss came after a dominant start for the Big Horns, with junior Stella Haas and senior captain Claire Hoadley leading in kills for a 25-20 win.
“I think the other team saw what we were doing and how we beat them, and then used that against us, for sure,” Muckway said of the subsequent losses.
It became clear in the third and fourth games that no ball was certain. Senior captain Addy Malinowski described the surprise moments when players launched far-off balls back into play. She remembered thinking, “Oh, we’re still in this, we’re still going.”
“We were very scrappy and we worked really well as a team, especially in the first set,” Malinowski said of the game’s successes. “I think that everyone just needs to work on stamina and keeping all our energy up … not letting one play get to us.”
As they say, confidence comes from the inside out, and middle players on both sides of the court showed key defensive blocks in the final game. Mustangs’ junior Addisyn Rowe and senior Mikendra Ledgerwood blocked attempts from aggressive LPHS hits, often multiple times in a point.
Senior Eva Mitchell and junior Avery Graham responded to the strong defense with their own. The duo regularly leapt against spikes from the Mustangs, putting the opposing team back on guard.
“She was on every single block,” Muckway said of Graham’s performance and said she stepped up in a big way. She described Mitchell’s contributions as important to the team dynamic. “Every time the ball was coming to her, she was ready.”
Hoadley commended the Mustangs for putting LPHS skills to the test. “They had some really good hitters,” Hoadley said. “We had some amazing plays. We had some spot-on passes. Lily [Turner] was setting dimes the entire game.”
Tonight, Sept. 13, the LPHS volleyball team will travel to Townsend to play against Broadwater High School. Hoadley said that the team will rest, take lessons from the Ennis match and come ready to play again. “We have an amazing group of girls and some amazing coaches that are going to bring us together.”
Assistant coach Gavin Dean called the game a big test against the 3-2 Broadwater Bulldogs. The 7 p.m. game in Townsend will give the girls another chance at a win.
