Hannah Hillyer (14) of Lowry tries to power the ball against Fallon's Whitney Skabelund.
Lowry’s Lady Buckaroos (10-16 overall) are going in ranked fifth, as they prepare for Friday’s Northern 3A Regional Volleyball Tournament.
Coach Brandon Eastman said they have had a very up and down season so far. He described the start of their season as chaotic and said they struggled to figure out what strategies worked for them.
“There were times where we looked really good and times where we struggled to find consistency,” he said.
Around the middle of the season, though, they figured out who best fit into each position and turned the season around to bring in more wins.
Despite the rough start, the Lady Buckaroos have some experience on their side with seven players returning from last year’s team. Eastman noted their varsity play time was spotty, but he was remaining optimistic about things.
Madison Montero and Hannah Hillyer are both strong players who have had good seasons on the court. The two seniors have 101 and 83 kills respectively, over the course of their careers.
Junior setter Jadyn Eastman also had a good season, providing 132 assists this year alone.
The Lady Buckaroos are excited for the tournament. Their first game is against South Tahoe tonight, a team they have already played twice in the regular season. In both games, the Lady Buckaroos lost in four sets; they were close games, though, where both teams scored high; in their second-half game, it was extremely close and each set could have gone to either team.
“The girls are really excited to get another shot at them,” Eastman said.
He said the team is optimistic going in and hopeful the adjustments they have made will work in their favor.
The winner of tonight’s game will go on to face the region’s No. 1 team, Truckee, tomorrow at noon.