LOVELL – The Lady Wranglers came out on top with three wins during a grueling, high-stakes weekend at the 3A West Conference Duels on Oct. 8-9. Battling rivals they will likely see in the postseason, Pinedale’s varsity volleyball squad proved its ability to be a serious contender over the next crucial weeks.

On Friday, the Lady Wranglers defeated Worland, 3-0. That afternoon, Pinedale fell to Lander, the No. 1 seed in the 3A Northwest Quadrant, in three close sets.

The Lady Wranglers squared off against Powell on Saturday. The Panthers lost to Mountain View the previous night, and both Powell and Pinedale hit the court that morning hungry for victory.

The opponents fought to a 2-2 deadlock before Pinedale edged ahead in the tiebreaker for a 3-2 win.

Re-energized after taking down Powell, the Lady Wranglers swept Lovell.

“Conference Duels is a hard weekend for the team,” said head coach Tamara Currah. “It’s in the middle of the season and it’s an important week in terms of the postseason. Overall, I feel like we did really well winning three out of four games.”

Pinedale sailed to victory against archrival Worland in the first matchup on Friday. The Lady Wranglers won all three sets by a wide margin – 25-16, 25-17 and 25-15.

“I felt like we were able to be consistent against Worland and play at their level,” Currah said.

Pinedale came close to upsetting the Lander Tigers in the next game. Lander entered the duels one of the highest-ranked 3A teams with an undefeated conference record and only two losses overall.

Lander won the first set, 25-16. Resolved not to throw in the towel, the Lady Wranglers ramped up the pressure in the second set, forcing the Tigers to a stalemate at 25 points. Lander managed to edge ahead and score game point at 27-25.

Pinedale put up a strong resistance in the third set, though fell short of overtaking the Tigers with Lander serving up the win, 25-18.

“Lander is a really good team – they have a lot of hard hitters,” said Currah. “I felt we did well against a tough opponent.”

On Saturday morning, Powell seemed poised to defeat the Lady Wranglers after the Panthers won the first two sets, both at 25-22.

Undaunted, Pinedale clawed its way out of the hole and scrapped its way to victory in the following sets, 25-16 and 25-18, respectively.

The game came down to the tiebreaking set. Demonstrating their endurance, the Lady Wranglers pulled ahead and scored match point at 15-9.

“The game-changer for us during the weekend was Powell,” Currah stated. “We came back from behind and won three matches. That’s huge and takes a lot for a team to pull off. Powell had lots of big hitters, so we changed our rotation and adjusted our defense to their offense and played both of our setters. It was a good win for us.”

Showing no signs of fatigue after the five-set heater, the Lady Wranglers turned around and defeated Lovell. Pinedale handily won the first set, 25-16. Lovell nearly turned the tables in the second set, forcing the match over 25 points. The Lady Wranglers scored the crucial tie-breaking points for the victory, 26-24. In a close third set, Pinedale edged ahead for the win, 25-20.

On Thursday, Oct. 14, the Lady Wranglers hosted Lyman, the No. 2 seed in the 3A Southwest Conference. Scores were not available at press time.

Pinedale squares off against Mountain View, the No. 1 seed, on Friday, Oct. 15, in an away game.

“This week is going to be a hard week for us,” said Currah. “I’m always excited to play tough teams and the girls are up for the challenge.”