Burns captures first state title in 30 years

Nov. 6—CASPER — Between 1985 and 1992, Burns captured two state volleyball titles and a runner-up finish.

After that high, a streak of 30 years went by without a volleyball title to their name.

On Saturday night, at the Wyoming Center in Casper, that drought came to an end. The Lady Broncs downed top-ranked Big Horn in four sets to capture their third state title in program history.

"It's awesome," first-year head coach Anndee McKinney said. "I have such a great group of girls, and we all, as a collective, have worked our butts off to get here. It's so amazing."

The path back to the state title game didn't start in August, like most teams did. It actually began in December of last year, when the team started off-season workouts.

"We did club (volleyball) in the spring, and worked all through the summer," Emma Norris, the team's lone senior, said. "We went to the weight room and had open gym almost every day."

The team made it through the regular season with a 20-12-2 record and finished first in the Class 2A Southeast Quadrant. The team bowed out to Big Horn in the regional championship, but secured the East Region's No. 2 seed.

Burns won its first two matches in the state tournament, and came out confident and full of energy to start the championship game against Big Horn.

The Broncs soon found out how much they needed it. The teams went back and forth in the opening frame, changing leads eight times.

After Burns made it 17-16, the Rams rattled off seven of the next 11 points to take a 23-21 lead. But the Broncs won the next three points to take a 24-23 lead. After some more back and forth, Burns finally put Big Horn away 28-26.

In the second set, the Broncs ran into some big trouble. In sports, there are losses, and then there are demoralizing losses. Burns suffered what looked like a demoralizing loss, dropping the second set 25-4.

But that loss had little to no effect on the Broncs, who came out strong in the third set. The team even joked that it was part of their game plan, junior setter Tehya Gallegos said.

"We just took that set and just kind of made a joke out of it," Norris said. "It didn't really matter, because we were already up one. We made it a point to not let that happen again and to just play our game in the next sets."

Big Horn made things interesting, coming back late to tie the set 20-20. The teams exchanged ties for the next few points before Burns was able to win 25-23.

Before breaking the huddle, McKinney held up one finger and yelled, "One more set," to the team.

It didn't look pretty in the beginning of the fourth set for the Broncs. Midway through, they fell behind 13-8. But Burns battled back and won eight of the next 10 points take a 16-15 lead.

That proved to be the spark the team needed, and the lead ballooned to an eventual 24-19 advantage.

After surrendering two straight points on match point, Burns sent out the final curtain call. Tehya Gallegos set up fellow junior Savannah Kirkbride for the final kill. Kirkbride struck the ball straight into the Big Horn blockers, and the ball fell harmlessly to the ground on Big Horn's side of the court.

The game ended 25-21 in the final set in favor of Burns, and the Broncs dogpiled onto their lone senior in a victorious embrace.

Norris showed out in a big way for her team in the final game of her high school career. The senior finished the game with a team-leading 14 kills and an ace to help lead the offense for Burns. She also posted 17 digs in the game, the second-most on the team.

But Norris didn't do it on her own. Kirkbride, Brooke Hansen and Sienna Gallegos all posted double-digit kills to help move the needle offensively.

Tehya Gallegos, as she has done time and time again, led the team in assists with 35.

The Broncs were aided by the Burns faithful, who showed up in force Saturday night and filled up nearly an entire lower section of the Wyoming Center.

"Our community is so together as a whole," Tehya Gallegos said. "We support each other throughout everything. I just appreciate everyone coming, and I know everyone will appreciate us bringing home the state championship."

The Broncs are in a unique situation. While they are losing their lone senior, they will bring back the rest of their roster. The plan is to run it back next year, McKinney said.

While it was not an easy trip to glory, the sky is the limit for this Burns team. The players proved in the off-season that they were willing and able to buy into McKinney's plans, and the results paid off.

"They are all dialed in," McKinney said. "They have been with me, seriously, for 10 months straight."

Matt Atencio covers Cheyenne prep sports for WyoSports. He can be reached at matencio@wyosports.net. Follow him on Twitter at @MattAtencio5.