Erin

Lady Devils best Natrona in tough five-game match
EHS controls own postseason fate By KURT RITZMAN Herald Sports Editor

Published: October 13th, 2009, Uinta County Herald, Page 9

Evanston finished off a regular season sweep of Natrona County on Saturday night with a five-game victory to move to 7-1 in conference play. The Lady Devils beat top-ranked Natrona County 28-30 , 25-21 , 27-25 , 26-28 , 15-10 . "I was really proud of them," Evanston coach Tera Lawlar said. "They were really proud of themselves ." Lawlar said the match probably featured the two best players in the state going against each other.
Evanston won that individual match up, as well as the more-important team match, with Erin Kirby outplaying Natrona's Baillie Gibson.
Gibson finished the game with 18 kills and seven blocks.
Kirby knocked down 25 kills and had 12 blocks.
"Erin was really huge for us, but you've got to have more than one player in such close games," Lawlar said. "As a team, we outworked Natrona the whole match."
Lawlar said Evanston's blocking played a big role in the win. Kelsi Thornock had five solo blocks in addition to Kirby's 12.
"The first game was really backand-forth , but we weren't really getting the output we wanted," Lawlar said. "After we lost the first game 30-28 , something just didn't feel right."
Lawlar switched Lauren Thomas to right side and Katie Thomas to outside hitter.
"They embraced the change," Lawlar said. "It wasn't that big of a deal to them and it immediately made a positive impact."
Lauren Thomas had three kills and two solo blocks as the right side hitter early in the second game.
Katie Thomas knocked down 19 kills, while making only two errors in her first varsity action as an outside hitter.
"Katie played phenomenal," Lawlar said. "She really stepped up."
Lawlar said the Lady Devils would explore whether to keep the new lineup for the rest of the season and may have to make other changes Tuesday against Green River.
"We have a lot of depth, which allows us to make some changes based on what the other team is doing," Lawlar said. "It's like playing a little chess match."
Evanston served well during the match, committing only five service errors. Only one of those occurred during the fourth game, and none were in the fifth game.
"They were so mature during it, for all of the games being so close. They were battling and held their composure ," Lawlar said of her team. "They all had that look of confidence. They all looked like they wanted to have the ball. They had confidence in each other and themselves. I'm really proud of them."
Abbey Ehlers had 28 assists and Jessica Chandler had 27 in the win.
Another key for the Lady Devils was their defense. Alyssa Hagstrom came up with 29 digs and Bernie Gutierrez had 24 against Natrona County.
"Our defense is so relentless. It's going to take a lot to get the ball down on our side of the net," Lawlar said. "I was proudest of how hard they worked. Every point was important."
The Lady Devils have a big week ahead of them to close out the regular season. Evanston travels to Green River tonight and hosts Star Valley on Thursday. If the Lady Devils win both matches, they will be 9-1 in regular season conference play, be the regular season champions and have an automatic berth to the state tournament.
"If we win, we've got it. It's nice to be in control," Lawlar said. "( The win over Natrona) definitely prepared us for Green River. I loved the way the girls battled and loved their confidence ."
Lawlar said Tuesday against Green River was going to be the big, emotional game, but they had to show up to play Thursday against Star Valley to finish out the season. Riverton The Lady Devils swept Riverton 25-15 , 25-12 , 25-16 on the road Friday night. "We passed very, very well," Lawlar said. Of Evanston's 35 passes, 29 were either perfect or almost perfect. "That's impressive passing," Lawlar said. "Our hitting was very good, as well." Kirby led the team with 24 kills and 11 solo blocks. Thornock added seven kills and six solo blocks. Gutierrez led the defense with 14 digs.