The Lady Wranglers have every reason to be

proud of their performance at the 3A West Regional Tournament

hosted by Lander, Nov. 1 and Nov. 2. For the first time

since Pinedale’s volleyball program received 3A designation

in 2005, the team made it to the championship round after defeating

Lander. The team also secured its spot at the 3A State

Tournament in Casper for the first time since 2011.

The championship match pitted Pinedale against Worland

and was no ordinary volleyball game. The gym buzzed with

excitement as two of the top teams in the state went headto-

head in an intense battle that went into five sets. The lead

bounced back and forth and the Lady Wranglers fought hard

for every one of the 105 points they put on the scoreboard

Saturday afternoon.

Worland won the championship on paper by a few points

in the fifth set. The game could have gone either way. Each

member of Pinedale’s varsity squad possessed the talent,

teamwork, determination, passion and grit to win. Worland

happened to have the ball in the right place at the right time

to make the extra points.

The games against Lander and Worland also represented

the Lady Wranglers’ unmatched endurance this season and

ability to dig deep and recover from a setback. After losing

the first two sets to Lander and Worland, Pinedale overtook

their opponents in the third match, won a fourth match and

forced the game into a tiebreaker.

Understandably, there was a lot of emotion as the dust settled

after the championship round and the teams congratulated

each other. The Lady Wranglers wiped back a few tears, and

minutes after finishing the exhausting match, they bounced

back to celebrate the fact that they played one heck of a game.

“I think it was really awesome how we came back after

losing the first two sets and we almost won the fifth,” said

senior Maggie Majhanovich. “I think we really played as a

team. We’re still going to go into State strong.”

“I could tell when we started taking our game back that we

became the new Pinedale team,” said junior Jamie Streit. “We

were no longer that old Pinedale team that had the rep of just

giving up and rolling over. We became the new Pinedale team

and that is what took us to State.”

“I think we still have a great week ahead of us,” said sophomore

Roxanne Rogers. “This was a tough game, but we’re

going to go to State knowing what we’re capable of, and

we’re going to bring it to them.”

Head Coach Tamara Currah said that the team deserved to

celebrate as the Regional Tournament ended.

“I’m very proud of them,” she said. “They’ve accomplished

what their goal was: to make it to State. Yes, first

place would have been great. But you can’t walk away from

a game like Worland feeling down. I feel like they’re going

to do great stuff at State. I’m proud of them for coming back

from losing two (sets) and doing it two games in a row. That’s

huge. It’s huge!”

By Robert Galbreath

rgalbreath@pinedaleroundup.com

Regionals opened on Friday afternoon with the quarterfinal

matches. As the number one seed going into the tournament,

Pinedale played number-four seed Lovell. The Lady Wranglers

swept their competition and won all three sets, 25-15,

25-9 and 25-11.

Advancing to the semifinals, Pinedale hit the court against

Lander, a tougher opponent. Each set was a nail-biter, with

the lead going back and forth and all but one set tied up at

25 points.

Pinedale fell in the first two sets, 31-29 and 28-26. Then

the team did what they do best. They rose up from defeat and

pulled off a 25-23 win in the third set. The match went into a

fourth set. After tying the set up at 25 points, the Lady Wranglers

pulled ahead to win, 27-25.

With the championship round and State at stake, Pinedale

and Lander faced off in a fifth set to break the tie. The Lady

Wranglers unleashed all their energy and took down Lander,

15-9, to clinch a spot at State and make history.

On Saturday afternoon, Pinedale advanced to the championship

round against Worland. The first two matches, like

those against Lander, were dead even until Worland pulled

ahead for the wins, 25-21 and 25-23. Once again, the Lady

Wranglers refused to concede the court. They crushed Worland

in the third set, 25-16, forcing the match into a fourth set.

Worland seemed to falter as Pinedale pulled out all the stops

and won the fourth match by nearly twice the points, 25-13.

The game entered a fifth set.

Both teams hit the court reenergized with the regional title

in sight. Pinedale started the set ahead, but Worland caught

up and tied the set. The stalemate was finally broken when

Worland shot in the final points to win the set, 15-11.

As this paper goes to press, the Lady Wranglers will make

history as they enter the Wyoming State Volleyball Tournament

as a 3A school for the first time. Pinedale plays Torrington

at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7. All events are

hosted at the Casper Events Center.