Lady Broncos open season with pair of wins

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos volleyball team had a strong opening week of play, defeating Reardan on the road on Tuesday and Columbia Burbank at home on Thursday.

Tuesday's match was all LRS as the Lady Broncos won in straight sets (25-13, 25-12, 25-13). Taylor Galbreath led the way with eight assists and six digs for the Lady Broncos. She also had five aces.

Eliza Galbreath had six kills and Dakota Killian had three blocks.

Thursday's match against Columbia Burbank was a closer affair.

The first set was a wild one marked by CB pulling ahead and LRS storming back. After LRS opened up a 3-1 lead, CB would go on a 5-0 run to make it 6-3. Back to back kills by Janaye Wilkie pulled LRS within 1, but CB then pulled away to open a 13-7 lead.

LRS head coach Cari Galbreath took her first time out and LRS regrouped. A kill by Taylor Galbreath out of the timeout stopped the bleeding for the Lady Broncos. After CB answered back with a point of its own, the Lady Broncos surged back and evened the set at 18 on an ace by Brinley Moore.

After LRS pulled ahead 20-18, CB called its own timeout and battled back to lead 22-21. But LRS would finish strong and take the set 25-22.

The early part of the second set went back and forth, but LRS pulled away to a 13-9 lead. CB would take a timeout and storm back to tie the set at 13, but it was all LRS after that.

After Cari Galbreath took a timeout of her own, LRS would score 12 out of the next 15 points and win the set 25-15.

The third set is when the Coyotes started to show some life. LRS opened a 7-6 lead. The teams traded points with the Lady Broncos nursing a small lead. However, CB would tie the set at 13 and would never trail again. CB went up 19-13. Back-to-back LRS points, capped by an ace by Taylor Galbreath, closed the gap to 19-15, but that's as close as LRS would get. CB scored six of the final seven points of the set for the 25-16 win.

The Coyotes carried their momentum into the fourth set, and the Lady Broncos didn't seem to know what hit them. The Coyotes opened a 8-2 lead, but LRS did fight back to briefly tie the set at 9, assisted by three straight aces by Moore. CB answered back with a 12-5 run to go up 21-14.

LRS would make its move down 14-21 with four straight points to make it 18-21. However, the Lady Broncos wouldn't get any closer and CB took the set 19-25 to force a fifth set.

CB used its momentum heading into the final set to open up a 5-1 lead, but LRS finally regained its composure and tied the set at 5 before taking a 7-6 lead. The Lady Broncos would never look back. They led 9-6 when CB took its first timeout of the set. CB would score out of the timeout, but LRS's run would continue right after. A service ace gave LRS a 11-7 lead. The Coyotes would close the lead briefly to 12-10, but that would be all they could muster. When another service ace by Grace Fedie gave LRS its first match point, CBC took another timeout.

CBC fought off one match point, but that was it. LRS won the set 15-11 and the match 3-2. Wilkie led LRS in kills with nine. Taylor Galbreath had 18 assists while Eliza Galbreath had two blocks. Ellie Gering added 14 digs and Moore finished with 7 aces.

Head coach Cari Galbreath's reaction was mixed after the game.

"We started off very well, and then we kind of got out of sync," Galbreath said. "We got frustrated and we started making a lot of unforced errors. Sometimes that happens. It's kind of a chain reaction and it can be hard to get out of. However, I'm glad we were about to pull out a victory ... We just need to not fall into those pits."

Lind-Ritzville next plays a pair of road matches at Odessa (Sept. 17) and Tekoa-Rosalia (Sept. 19). The Lady Broncos return home to play Upper Columbia Academy on Sept. 24 at 6:30 p.m.