With a win over Green River last Thursday, the Evanston High School volleyball team clinched the 4A Southwest Quadrant title, beating the Lady Wolves in a sweep, 25-11, 25-15, 25-10.

“It was very exciting,” said EHS head coach Tera Lawlar. “We played well. We felt like there was a lot on the line, the match prior against Star Valley meant so much to the team; there was a lot of emotion going into Green River. I was proud they went into Green River and played our game, and do the things we were working on.”

With the win, Evanston improved to 11-8-1, 5-0 in quadrant play. Green River dropped to 1-13 (0-5 in quadrant play).

Stacia Barker was Evanston’s offensive standout individually, leading the team with 18 kills. Emily Freeland followed with 12, while Taryn Holt added seven. Mia Barker finished with five kills.

“I think the girls left the game feeling like they raised the bar for us,” Lawlar said. “We continue to do good things, and I was proud of how we realized what was at stake still. We didn’t want there to be any reasons why we didn’t clinch it.”

Libero Baylie Critchfielled the way in digs with 24, followed by Freeland with 17. Kambree Brown finished with eight digs, while McKenzie Porter was right behind with seven.

“We served well,” Lawlar said. “I think our number one thing was, if we were out of system, or it wasn’t clean volleyball, we were able to have people step in and pick up where we needed to be seamlessly. We were able to put out-of-system balls back in system, and we kept control of the match that way, with good ball control.”

After the Lady Devils’ emotional win over Star Valley last Tuesday, Lawlar said she wondered how the team would respond going into Green River.

“It was a good team performance overall — consistent play from everyone,” Lawlar said. “They all communicated really well. We’re trying to emphasize the fact that if one person isn’t on — or if one person isn’t talking — it really does impact everybody. They have to find a way to be there for their teammates. I think everyone did a nice job of contributing — they were focused and engaged.”

Evanston closes out the regular season Saturday at Jackson; a win against the Lady Broncs would give the Lady Devils a 4A Southwest Quadrant sweep, as well as a little momentum heading into regionals next week.

“I think Jackson has some nice weapons, and I think they’re creative enough to give us fits,” Lawlar said. “I think their lack of experience might hurt them, but then they also have some great players. On film, they do some nice things — they’re really scrappy defensively, so it’s an opportunity for us to put the things that we’ve been working on in practice in play.”