It was another busy week for the Lady Bobcat volleyball team (6-8), with away tournaments on Tuesday in Elm Creek and Saturday in Sutherland.

The Lady Bobcats, in their second match of the season against the Anselmo-Merna Coyotes, commanded a 2-1 win Tuesday. The first time these two faced off in Merna, the Lady Bobcats fell to the Coyotes. But this game was different - the Lady Bobcats were confident, full of determination, and hungry for a win.

The first set started off rocky with the Lady Bobcats being down by nearly 10 points, but thanks to some well-placed serves and good back row defense, they came back to win 25-23. The second set was a back-andforth with a close score throughout the entire game. The Lady Bobcats had a few small errors late in the set that gave the Coyotes the advantage to win, 23-25.

The third set went to extra points after the Lady Bobcats were down by seven points late in the set, but a well-placed hit by Delaney Rogers gave South Loup the win, 29-27.

Charli Vickers had 14 kills, followed by Bryn Schwarz and Rogers with five each. Greeley Hrupek had two service aces and was perfect from the line. Two other Lady Bobcats had perfect service records for the game - Delaynie Liable and Schwarz. At the net, Rogers had eight blocks, followed by Liable with four blocks; Schwarz had 17 assists. The back row was busy as well, with Hrupek sending up 18 digs, and Grace Bierman with 19 serve receives.

In the second game of the day, the Lady Bobcats took on the Elm Creek Buffaloes. They got behind early in the first set after strong serving by the Buffaloes and dropped the first, 19-25. The second set saw the Lady Bobcats take an early lead and hold onto it to come out on top, 25-15. The third set was another runaway for the Lady Bobcats. Aggressive play at the net and some hard serves allowed them to take an early lead and shut down the Buffaloes for the win, 25-13.

From the net, Rogers had eight kills and Vickers had six kills. Rogers also had six blocks, followed by Vickers with five. Schwarz had 12 assists at the net with 56 ups. In the back row, Hrupek had 18 digs, Schwarz had 17 digs, and Vickers and Liable each had 14 digs. Vickers and Liable each had 11 serve receives and Reiff and Hrupek each had 10.

From the service line, Hrupek, Reiff, and Schwarz each had two aces; and Reiff was 20 for 20 at the service line.

Saturday at the Sutherland Sailors Tournament brought some lineup changes and the introduction of a libero for the first time this season. The Lady Bobcats worked well together despite these modifications and still played close games.

The first game of the day was against North Platte St.

Pat’s. The Lady Bobcats lost in two sets, but they were consistent in their play, losing each set 19-25. Neither set saw the Lady Bobcats with a lead, but as they were learning how to play a new rotation and new positions, they were still able to defend the net.

The Lady Bobcats swept the Dundy County Stratton Tigers in two sets, 25-13 and 25-10. The Lady Bobcats played with determination and a strong desire to win. They kept the ball off the floor, despite playing much softer with fewer hard hits at the net and more soft tips across the court.

The final matchup of the day against Chase County for fifth place was a different story. The Lady Bobcats had the lead early in the first set, but preventable errors and fatigue allowed the Longhorns to run away with the score and win 12-25. The second set was close until about midway through when the Lady Bobcats appeared to shut down and allow the Longhorns to win 16-25.

Individual stats for this weekend’s tournament were not available by press time.

The team hosted Ansley-Litchfield on Tuesday in Callaway, but scores were not yet available.

Thursday they will travel to Stapleton for a triangular with Sandhills Valley and Twin Loup. Play begins at 5 p.m.