Renegades add conference wins against Huskies, Falcons

The RPR Renegades bested the Absarokee Huskies in four last Thursday in a cross-county matchup.
Game one was tight, with Absarokee scoring first, but RPR gaining the lead and maintaining it for a majority of the game.
When Husky Rebecka Lester stepped up to serve, her team was down 21-18. When RPR got the ball back, the game was tied at 21.
The game was also tied at 23, before RPR surged ahead to win 25-23.
The second game was much like the first with RPR keeping control by a couple points the whole game. The Renegades won game two by a slightly larger margin – 25-20.
Absarokee would not go down without a fight, though, and the Huskies won a close game three with a score of 25-23.
The Renegades pulled away in game four, finishing out the match with a strong 25-18 win.
Both teams played well, but RPR, led by the strong hitting of Carlee Blodgett and Destiny Ayers (with 16 and 14 kills, respectively), consistently found ways to extend plays and keep the ball from landing on the Renegade half of the court.
Blodgett also led the team with seven digs, followed closely by Mercedes Hoff with six. Nynah Bryant had six of the team’s 14 aces, and Ayers led with 2.5 blocks. Jocelyn Ott put up 19 assists against the Huskies.
On the Absarokee side of the ball, Emma LaMoure had an impressive showing with 22 of the team’s 83 digs, four aces, and one block. Lester also had four aces and one block. Mallorey Sheppard racked up 10 of the Huskies’ 19 kills, as well as a block. Also leading Absarokee was Caitlin Young with 11 assists and Hana Kelly with one block.
On Friday, the Renegades continued their winning ways, defeating the Fromberg Falcons in three sets.
RPR played tough, holding Fromberg to a combined total of 33 points.
Four girls led the Renegade team: Bryant with 11 aces, Hoff with three digs, Ayers with 12 kills, and Ott with 17 assists. RPR did not tally any blocks.
Coach Teresa Bare said both conference wins “were team efforts all the way around.”
This week, the Renegades will be busy with three matches in as many days. Two of those matches will be against the top two teams in the conference.
On Thursday, RPR faces the undefeated Bridger Scouts. Friday, RPR plays number two Custer-Hysham for homecoming. Saturday will see another county matchup when the Renegades play the Park City Panthers. All three matches will be played in Reed Point.
Bare said her team is working hard to prepare for this week’s games. The goal, week in and week out, is constant improvement.
She mentioned that RPR lost to Custer-Hysham earlier this season, so the Renegades are “looking to avenge that loss.”
Park City has lost some key players, Bare said, but the Panthers are always a force to be reckoned with, and RPR looks for them to be “a formidable opponent.”

PARK CITY
The Panthers finally found some success last week, beating Belfry on Thursday.
After dropping the first game 25-16, Park City went on to out-score Belfry 75-34 to bring home the team’s first match victory this season.
Blakely Verke once again had a big performance with three digs, three blocks, and 21 of the team’s 23 assists. Also leading the team were Kasidy Robbins with eight aces and Alyx Grabowska with seven kills.
Coach Kate Cristaldi felt that the Panthers finally played as a team, and it really paid off against Belfry.
On Saturday, Park City headed to Huntley for the Coaches Classic tournament.
The Panthers dropped every pool play game, facing tough competition in Class B Huntley Project, Roundup, and Baker.
In bracket play, Park City fell to Class B Forsyth, as well as to Absarokee.
During the Absarokee game, a number of girls contributed to the team’s efforts. Sydney Kluth and Verke had three assists each. Leading in kills were Verke and Grabowska, with three each. Verke also had three aces.
On the defensive side, Robbins and Arica Hedges each had six digs. Andee Baker had the team’s only block.
Cristaldi said that the team’s goal going into the Huntley tournament was to make improvements throughout the day against some tough competition, and the girls did just that.
This week, Park City will continue to work on playing as a team, as well as controlling match tempo and eliminating emotional highs and lows, according to Cristaldi.
The Panthers look to add another win at home on Thursday against Fromberg. On Saturday, Park City faces RPR.

COLUMBUS
On Thursday, the Cougars fell to a very good Huntley Project Red Devil team in three sets.
Two Cougar performances stood out during the game – Camryn Ault put up three blocks, and Kat Sindelar had four digs.
Coach Lindsey Johnson felt that at times the Cougars played well against Huntley, despite the score.
On Saturday, Columbus went back to Huntley to play in the tournament.
In pool play, the team went 1-2, defeating Harlowton, but falling to Three Forks and Red Lodge.
During bracket play, the Cougars lost to Huntley before losing a very close one Roundup.
Morgan Kirch had a good game against Roundup, putting up two blocks and four kills. Reed Johnson had two aces, and Sindelar had six assists.
Coach Johnson said tournament play went well when the Cougars were able to play their own game.
Consistency, playing at a higher level, and defense are among the things Columbus is working on, according to Johnson.
This week, the Cougars have a non-conference game against Big Timber at home on Thursday. Over the weekend, Columbus heads to Roundup for another tournament, and next Tuesday, the Cougars head down the road to face Absarokee.

ABSAROKEE
Before Thursday’s loss to RPR, Absarokee fell to then-undefeated Custer-Hysham on Tuesday.
After losing 25-13 in the first set, the next two sets were very close, with the Huskies losing by two and three points.
Absarokee put up 58 digs as a team, led by Sheppard with 16 and Young with 13. Sheppard also had five kills. LaMoure had six assists, and the team’s two blocks were split by Lester and Kennedy Eckwortzel.
Despite the loss, Coach Tonya Steffenson was very pleased with the way her team played against a tough opponent. She characterized it as “our best game thus far and very exciting to watch.”
As far as the loss to RPR on Thursday, Steffenson contributed it to a lack of focus and simply making more mistakes than the Renegades.
Absarokee also played in the Huntley tournament last weekend.
The Huskies split games with Forsyth and fell to Colstrip and Joliet in pool play.
In the bracket, Absarokee was defeated by Harlowton, but finished out with a win over Park City.
During the Park City game, Young led the team in assists with four. She also led in digs, along with Lester, Kelly, and Breezy Williams, with three apiece. Sheppard had six of the team’s nine kills, and LaMoure earned five of the eight Absarokee aces.
For homecoming on Thursday, the Huskies face Broadview-Lavina in a non-conference match. Next Tuesday, Absarokee faces Columbus.