Lady Broncos lose league match, prep for Senior Night tilt against Asotin

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos lost a league game to the Liberty Lancers last week while beating non-league foe Royal City to end a three-match losing streak dating back to Oct. 4.

The Lady Broncos traveled to Liberty to take on the Lancers on Oct. 9, falling in three sets: 25-7, 25-19, 25-16. Junior Ellie Gering led the way offensively for LRS with five kills, while senior Lacey Miller recorded 12 assists and 17 digs during the match.

Head coach Cari Galbreath said it felt like her team didn’t play with a lot of intensity during the match, and that it felt like they were in a fog the whole time they were in Liberty. She credited the Lancers with playing better than they did in their first match earlier in the season, but didn’t think LRS played well at all.

The Lady Broncos came back strong against the Royal City Knights on Oct. 13, beating the 1A team in four sets at home: 21-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-14. Junior Eliza Galbreath had a big match offensively, racking up 13 kills and six aces to lead the Broncos. Miller piled up 30 assists during the match, while senior Kierstin Witt recorded 28 digs.

Galbreath said that the team’s calmness during the match benefited the team, and gave them confidence that they can consistently put up good performances.

“We made a lot of unforced errors in the first game, we weren’t talking really,” said Galbreath. “But then we came around, Eliza got stronger offensively for us in the last three sets, and Dakota helped us offensively. I felt that we did some good things against Royal, so that was good.”

The Lady Broncos close out the regular season with two league matches this week. They traveled to Reardan to take on the Indians on Oct. 16, and host the Asotin Panthers on Saturday afternoon in what will be the team’s Senior Night. The Lady Broncos defeated Reardan in straight sets in their first match earlier in the season on Sept. 25, but lost to Asotin in a heartbreaker earlier this season, losing in five tough sets on the road on Sept. 29.

Galbreath said that Senior Night is usually emotional and that it can sometimes be a distraction, although she hopes it can fire her team up instead.

“But it’s exciting as well to honor those seniors that have been a part of our program, especially Lacey and Kierstin,” said Galbreath. “They have really grown in their volleyball level and have been dedicated to the program for so long. I’m hoping that fires everybody and we play with a lot of energy and intensity.”