Lady Broncos volleyball keeps season alive in district tournament

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos volleyball team staved off elimination in the Northeast 2B District Tournament, winning two of their three matches to advance to the second week of the tournament.

The Lady Broncos took on Mary Walker High School from Springdale in the tournament’s play-in game on Oct. 25 at Reardan High School, sweeping them in three sets: 25-21, 25-17 and 25-20. LRS was steadily in control throughout the entire match, often playing neck-and-neck with Mary Walker before going on runs late to put away each of the sets.

Eliza Galbreath amassed 13 of the team’s 27 kills during the match, as well as serving three aces. Dakota Killian had nine kills and four blocks, while Ellie Gering led the team in digs with 16.

Head coach Cari Galbreath said she was happy that her team was able to finish off the match in three sets.

“I think when there’s pressure and you foresee a long day ahead of you, you can get distracted,” said Galbreath. “I think we stayed pretty focused and we were able to finish. I think we showed that we were the more confident team.”

The Lady Broncos advanced to play the Northwest Christian Crusaders in the double-elimination portion of the tournament, playing almost immediately after their match against Mary Walker. The Crusaders were the regular season champions in the Northeast 2B North Division, finishing with a league record of 9-1.

LRS fell in straight sets to Northwest Christian: 25-20, 25-11 and 25-15. The Lady Broncos had just 12 kills in the match, with Galbreath and Killian combining for nine of them. Kierstin Witt had 10 digs and two aces in the match.

Coach Galbreath said that the team didn’t do well offensively to challenge Northwest Christian, partially because she believes they were just a stronger team. Galbreath also said it was tough for the team to play again almost immediately after beating Mary Walker.

“It’s like, how much is the fight worth to [the team], to waste so much energy and still lose and then have to play again?” said Galbreath. “They were a good team, but I just wish we could have given them more of a fight, more of a challenge.”

The loss put the Lady Broncos into the loser’s bracket, meaning one more loss would end their season. They took on the Wilbur-Creston Wildcats in their final match of the night, dispatching the Wildcats 25-21, 25-22 and 25-12 to extend their season at least one more week.

LRS racked up 30 kills in the three sets, with Galbreath accounting for 15 kills herself. Lacey Miller had 22 assists, 13 digs and two aces to help lead the Lady Broncos to victory.

“That made my heart happy,” said Coach Galbreath about the victory. “Just because you never know. We haven’t seen them before, and being that we were physically exhausted and missing a player it felt like the odds were kind of stacked against us, and it was just nice to get a win.”

The final day of the district tournament is on Nov. 1 at St. George’s School in Spokane. The Lady Broncos will play the winner of the match between the Asotin Panthers and the Colfax Bulldogs at 6:30 p.m.

LRS lost both of their regular season matches to Colfax, losing in four sets in the first match and losing in fifth sets in their most recent meeting on Oct. 4. The Lady Broncos split the season series with Asotin, losing their first match on the road in five sets and winning their most recent match on Oct. 20 in straight sets.

“I think the field is open for us,” said Coach Galbreath. “I think we can create our own destiny, and if we want to move on we’re going to have to fight and earn it.”

Galbreath hopes that they’ll have a strong week of practice and feel more comfortable and in tune with their offense, as well as serving and receiving.

If LRS wins that match, they would advance to play in the third/fourth place game at 8 p.m. The third place team would advance to play in the 2B State Tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome, while the loser’s season would be over.