<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4B4NPx_1Gs2JgOC00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4B4NPx_1Gs2JgOC00" width="1763" height="1175" ></figure>After a gritty state-qualifying performance last week at the 1A Regional Tournament, the Dubois Lady Rams (21-12) couldn’t recover from a slow start against the Upton Lady Bobcats (17-11) Thursday in the quarterfinal round of the 1A State Tournament, falling in three sets, 25-21, 24-14, 25-20.“I feel like the girls played a little scared,” Head Coach Barbara Sparks said. “I feel like they played not to lose, instead of to win, so they played a little stiff.”While the first and third sets were largely back-and-forth affairs, untimely errors and a lack of aggression burned the Lady Rams, who couldn’t maintain their momentum for more than a few points at a time.After an Upton service error and a perfectly-placed deep corner shot from senior Daisy Burnett put DHS up 19-17 in the first set, the Lady Rams promptly gifted Upton five points on two service errors, an attacking error and two receiving errors.Always encouraging her girls to attack and play with confidence, Sparks said, “I think it was lack of confidence in their swing – same with our serves.“When you start playing tight and you start playing a little worried, a little scared, you start making mistakes that you normally wouldn’t make, in order to kind of break up the [other] mistakes,” Sparks added. “And instead of that paying off, it always kind of goes the other way.”Initially, DHS’ attacking errors manifested in hits going over the back line, but as they tried to adjust, they began hitting the net, and finding the court in between those errors became increasingly difficult in the second set.Upton raced out to a 16-5 second-set lead, which the Lady Rams cut to 16-9, but they almost immediately surrendered the service line with a service error.Referencing the service errors, Sparks said, “The mentality of just getting [the ball] over the net [is what] I think failed them a little bit.“We practice with full aggression, all the time, so I tell them in practice, ‘Fully-aggressive serves,’ … So when they’re feeling timid and they’re feeling like they just want to get the ball in, sometimes that doesn’t go well, because that’s not what we practice,” DHS’ first-year head coach said.In the third and final set, the Lady Rams who dominated for extended stretches during regionals, returned and earned a 10-6 lead, but Upton promptly responded, taking a 12-11 lead and never relinquishing it.A block and kill from Burnett, and a power tip and a block from junior Louise Mountain briefly energized their squad, but the match ended on a receiving error from Dubois.Despite the result, Sparks and Burnett said the squad will be ready to get back at it the next day, when they take on Guernsey-Sunrise (13-17) at 1 p.m. just after press time. The winner of that game will have the opportunity to play one more game, before possibly playing for third place on Saturday.Cokeville (16-18) swept Guernsey-Sunrise Thursday, 25-9, 25-13, 25-11.“We’re lucky to have the opportunity to play again,” Burnett said on Thursday. “We’re going to eat well, sleep well and recharge for the game tomorrow.“We’re also going to bring it,” she continued. “Today, on the court, we just started reminding ourselves we have nothing to lose, so that’s going to be our mindset heading into tomorrow.”Dubois defeated Guernsey-Sunrise 2-0 in their only match up this year, which came at a jamboree in Casper on Oct. 9.</div></body>

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After a gritty state-qualifying performance last week at the 1A Regional Tournament, the Dubois Lady Rams (21-12) couldn’t recover from a slow start against the Upton Lady Bobcats (17-11) Thursday in the quarterfinal round of the 1A State Tournament, falling in three sets, 25-21, 24-14, 25-20. “I feel like...

Slow start dooms Lady Rams in State Quarterfinal

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After a gritty state-qualifying performance last week at the 1A Regional Tournament, the Dubois Lady Rams (21-12) couldn’t recover from a slow start agains

Slow start dooms Lady Rams in State Quarterfinal

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