LHS volleyball heading into 4A East regional at full strength
Oct. 26—The Laramie High volleyball team enters this week's Class 4A East regional tournament as the No. 1 seed out of the Southeast Quadrant.
The Plainsmen (28-0 overall, 6-0 quadrant) will open the tournament against Northeast No. 4 seed Natrona County (10-18, 0-6) at 10 a.m. Friday in Sheridan.
LHS swept the Mustangs 25-14, 25-19 and 25-21 on Oct. 13. In the match, junior Savanna Steiert tallied eight kills and seven digs to aid the Plainsmen in the win.
"Natrona is very scrappy defensively," Steiert told WyoSports on Tuesday. "Something we'll need to work on this week is getting the ball down quickly."
A win over the Natrona County would set Laramie up against the winner of 4A Northeast No. 2 Campbell County (24-7, 4-2) and Southeast No. 3 Cheyenne Central (10-19, 2-4) in the semifinals. The Plainsmen defeated both teams in three sets during the regular season.
Winning their first two matches would put the Plainsmen in the championship match at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The regional champion takes the East No. 1 seed into the state tournament next month.
Laramie entered the season expecting to compete for a state title after returning all but two starters from last year's third-place team. The Plainsmen started the year No. 1 in the WyoPreps.com coaches and media volleyball poll and have yet to lose a match.
The players have already put the perfect regular season record behind them and are looking ahead to this weekend's regional tournament.
Junior Carson Millam doesn't have a traditional volleyball upbringing, but is a three-sport athlete for LHS, also playing basketball and softball.
She has played in 48 sets for LHS this season, collecting 32 kills.
"The biggest thing this team has learned this season is the importance of buying in and working together," Millam said. "When we're all on the same page and communicating, we perform really well, and when we aren't doing those things, it's more of a challenge."
Another key this season has been the Plainsmen's ability to stay healthy throughout the campaign. LHS coach Jill Stucky has monitored the minutes of her players all season in hopes of keeping them fresh for the postseason.
The team is led on and off the court by its three seniors: Maddy Stucky, Anna Sell and Sidnie Study. The seniors have kept the team focused on finishing the job after last season ended with heartbreak.
Stucky is the reigning Wyoming Gatorade player of the year and racked up 570 assists this season to pair with a .505 hit percentage. Sell's 202 digs lead the team, and Study has 56 digs to go along with 11 aces.
"Last year, we came so close, and losing was really rough," Steiert said. "It was really upsetting, but it's given us motivation all season, and I think it's the main reason we've been able to stay undefeated and resilient."
Sophomore Tessa Dodd and junior Michon Sailors lead the Plainsmen in kills per set at 2.8 and 2.3, respectively. Sailors also leads LHS in blocks with 51, and Dodd has a team-high 43 aces.
"Tessa has probably impressed me the most of any teammate this year," Millam said. "She grows every day at practice and wants to keep getting better. Everyone does, but you can see it with Tessa. If she makes one mistake, she's running to get the next ball for her next opportunity."
Sophomores Kierra Gardner and Ava Plassmeyer have played in all 70 sets for LHS this season. Gardner has been a constant presence on the defensive side of the net with 107 digs, averaging out to 1.5 per set. Plassmeyer is second in total blocks at 41, and fifth in kills with 101.
"I've seen so much growth in Ava," Steiert said. "Maddy and Ava are still trying to connect on the set the way they want, but I feel Ava has grown so much in the last year. She's so useful when she gets in, and she knows how to put a ball down when needed."
Junior Jaidan Catterson has spent the year learning the libero role under Sell. In 43 sets, Catterson has five aces in 92 attempts for a 93.5 serve percentage.
Laramie lost just three sets during the regular season. The toughest battle the team has faced has been maintaining composure when things don't go the right way, Millam said.
"We've gotten into trouble when we get frustrated and lose sight on working together," Millam said. "We're not always on the same page, and that makes it difficult to play together."
Over the course of the season, LHS volleyball has felt the support from its community. Laramie has the loudest student section in 4A, according to Steiert.
"We have the hugest student section, and we always hear them," Steiert said. "Sometimes, when I'm out of town, people will tell me that they saw me in the newspaper or heard my name on the radio, and it makes me feel like everyone in the community is connected to our team and looking out for us."
Jill Stucky does her best to keep the team grounded and loose going into matches. She is quick to get the team back on track, which was seen against East last Friday. Stucky called a timeout late in the third set to remind her team that it didn't matter what its record was and that they needed to bare down and execute on the court.
East led Laramie 18-12 going into Stucky's timeout, and the Plainsmen eventually won the set 25-22. For Steiert, the comeback defines what Plainsmen volleyball is about.
"We came back and won the set, which was good for the team, because we felt a lot of pressure," Steiert said. "We didn't want to lose a set, because we were at home, and our whole school was watching.
"I think we came in with the attitude that we were going to beat East, and then, we were like, 'OK, East has a hold on us right now, and we need to get out of this.' So, we all came together and pulled it out."
The top four teams at this weekend's regional tournament will qualify for the 4A state tournament Nov. 2-4 at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper.
Austin Edmonds covers Laramie High, University of Wyoming and community athletics for WyoSports. He can be reached at aedmonds@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @_austinedmonds.
