Lyman finishes third at state

Josh Hall
Posted 11/4/17

The Lyman High School volleyball team finished third at the Class 3A state tournament on Saturday in Casper

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Lyman finishes third at state

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CASPER – The Lyman High School volleyball team entered the Class 3A state tournament with a state championship on its mind.

But when the Lady Eagles lost in the first round, they had to improvise their goal.

Lyman went on to win its next three games, including a four-set victory against Riverton to earn a third-place finish on Saturday.

As it turns out, hoisting the third-place trophy was a sweet consolation prize for the Lady Eagles.

“Third place feels great,” Lyman senior Cedar Eyre said. “It’s not exactly what we set out to do, but we were able to play as a team and ended up playing some really tough matches to get ourselves into the third-place match. I think we executed really well. We stuck together, and it feels good.”

Lyman (No. 3 West) rolled to a 25-18, 25-18, 25-12 win against Worland (No. 3 East) in a consolation semifinal game on Saturday morning to advance to the third-place match.

The Lady Eagles jumped out to a fast start and finished even stronger in their 25-14, 19-25, 25-12, 25-19 win against Riverton (No. 1 West).

“There are very few teams that end with a win,” Lyman senior Nichole Crook. “I think it’s amazing.”

Lyman opened the tournament, held at the Casper Events Center, with a 25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 28-26 loss to Rawlins (No. 2 East) on Thursday night.

Lady Eagles coach Brecia Hansen reminded her team that night they could still end the season with a victory. But to do so, Lyman would have to win three-straight games.

“You never know how teams are going to respond,” Hansen said. “But I knew my girls would respond well. They never have not responded well this whole season. They love to play. I didn’t know if we’d win, but I knew they would play hard and they did.”

It wasn’t an easy task.

“It was scary, and you had to be in the right mindset the entire time,” Lyman junior McKailey Bradshaw said. “We couldn’t let down. We just had to go for it.”

Lyman’s first must-win game against Torrington on Friday was a dog fight.

The Lady Eagles and the Lady TrailBlazers went to five sets, with Lyman eventually coming away with a 25-11, 22-25, 25-17, 20-25, 16-14.

“That whole game was a rollercoaster,” Hansen said “We won huge, and then we lost. Then we won huge, and then we lost. That fifth one was just a nail biter. I felt like, even though I shouldn’t have felt like it, I felt like we were in control. I felt like I knew we would win, even when we were down 13-12 in the fifth set. I just trust those kids so much, and I knew they would do everything they could to win.

“I could coach my whole life and never do another one of those.”

Lyman will graduate Eyre and Crook, but the Lady Eagles return everyone else next year.

“The future looks amazing for Lyman,” Eyre said. “I think they have just as good, or a better chance, of accomplishing what we originally came to do and take home the state championship trophy. We’ve got a lot of good underclassmen with lots of potential. If they stick together and work hard, I know they can do it.”