The Evanston High School volleyball team suffered a pair of tough road losses over the weekend, falling in straight sets to 4A West rivals Cody and Riverton.

The Lady Devils opened the weekend Friday afternoon at Cody against the powerhouse Lady Broncs (17-2, 3-0 in 4A NW Quadrant), losing 25-8, 25-13, 25-12. Evanston stopped off in Riverton on the way home Saturday, giving the Lady Wolverines all they could handle in a three-set loss, 25-23, 25-22, 25-17.

The losses drop the Lady Devils to 11-20 on the season (0-3 in the 4A SW Quadrant), with home games scheduled this week against quadrant rivals Star Valley (21-7, 2-1 in 4A SW Quadrant) Tuesday and Green River (7-15, 1-2 in 4A SW Quadrant) Thursday.

“Obviously, Cody was a pretty complete team,” said EHS head coach Tera Lawlar. “With Riverton, I thought we battled — we hung right in there. A couple of points here or there, it’s a different match. We had too many missed serves, and had we won that first set, I think the outcome might have been different But I think the girls were able to see that they played a more complete match against Riverton. I was pleased with the fight, just disappointed with the missed serves, and some of the other little things we can work on.”

Cody 3,

Lady Devils 0

The Lady Devils squared off against No. 3 Cody for the first time this season, and found that the Lady Broncs are as good as advertised, losing in straight sets, 25-8, 25-13, 25-12.

“Cody is just a complete team,” Lawlar said. “We really didn’t get into any kind of groove against them. They served tough — they were probably the most aggressive serving team that we’ve faced. Knowing that our passing game is something we’ve had going for us, they stripped that away, and if we did get a good pass or a good set, the block was right there. They’re just solid and complete.”

Kyan Lawlar led the attack with five kills, followed by Jaylie Critchfield with four and Kaisli Fitch with two. Critchfield also had the team’s only ace.

Alyssa Brown and Critchfield led the team with four digs apiece.

Riverton 3,

Lady Devils 0

Saturday’s match against Riverton was a battle from start to finish, though the Lady Devils were unable to steal a set in a 3-0 loss, 25-23, 25-22, 25-17.

“I think the Riverton match gave the girls confidence,” Lawlar said. “We’re right there — we’re right on the cusp of making it happen. A more balanced attack, and some minimization of some of those silly service errors that we had, I think the outcome would have been different.”

Kyan Lawlar again led the attack for the Lady Devils with 13 kills, followed by four apiece from Jaylie Critchfield and Kaisli Fitch. Rhyen Debenham finished with two kills and an ace, while Critchfield led the team in aces with three.

Cassidy Coley paced the team with 15 digs, followed by nine from Alyssa Brown, eight from Lawlar and seven from Austin Robertson. Debenham led the team in blocks, with three.

“At the end, the girls were still fighting, and I was proud of them for that,” Lawlar said. “They’re excited and looking forward to this week. They’re learning a lot this season — about rotations, and why they play where they play. They’re having to be more strategic, and scrape and scrap along the way, and that lends itself to them being more knowledgeable about how to eke out some of those points. Even though the record isn’t indicative of a whole lot of success, they’re learning a lot.”