Rough start to volleyball season

It was a bit of a rough start to the season for the Green River Lady Wolves Volleyball team as the team went winless at a tournament in Cokeville.

However, despite the losses this weekend, the Lady Wolves are continuing to improve and that’s what head coach Rikki Shantz wants to see.

Shantz said the team is currently down two of its top players due to injuries they suffered this summer.

They haven’t even been able to attend practice let alone play in a game.

“It’s been a rough preseason and summer,” she said.

With spots open for younger players, the Lady Wolves did the best they could, but they still lost all five games they competed in.

“I did see a ton of improvement,” Shantz said. “The last game was 110 percent improvement from the first.”

She said the team has been working on being intentional with the ball and their movements. They are also working to set obtainable goals for themselves and the team.

Shantz tries to instill in the Lady Wolves that they must be patient. She wants the Lady Wolves to peak during the right time in the season, which means they need to be patient at the beginning of the season. Sometimes the Lady Wolves work too hard to improve quicker and they peak at the wrong time.

She said they can actually stunt their growth if they push beyond what they are capable of doing.

Shantz has used this tournament as a way to gage where the players are and to see where the team needs to make improvements.

They will work on serve and receive, passing and being quicker on defense.

This weekend the Lady Wolves will travel to Gillette to play in another tournament. They will play at least four games this weekend.

Cokeville Results:

Alta, Utah, 3 Green River 0: 25-12, 25-14, 25-21

Cokeville 3 Green River 0: 25-14, 25-9, 25-18

Grace, Idaho, 3 Green River 1: 25-13, 25-17, 24-26, 25-11

Grace, Idaho, 3 Green River 2: 13-25, 25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13

Rich, Utah, 3 Green River 2: 26-24, 25-18, 20-25, 20-25, 15-12