Lady Raiders force five games at Manson

The Lady Raiders fell 3-2 to Manson last Thursday in a hard-fought match on the Trojans’ home court.

In the first game, the Lady Raiders struggled and lost to the Trojans by six points. But in the second and third games, Lake Roosevelt came alive and put together two close wins, including an extra-time win in the third game.

But the Trojans came back in the fourth easily putting LR away by nine points, then winning the fifth and the match by the score of 15-10.

Head Coach Nate Piturachsatit looked to improve off the loss for last night’s match at Soap Lake by communicating better on the floor.

“There was some confusion this game as to who should get what balls,” he said of the Manson meet, “and there were times when we just looked out of sync. That all needs to be cleaned up before Tuesday.”

The Ladies did improve from the Waterville, the coach noted. “They are starting to understand how to move and cover the floor using our rotational defense,” he said. “We were able to make more constant attacks this game with fewer free balls.”

Three Raiders rotating at middle hitter for the Lady Raiders stood out to their coaches for what they bring to the court and to the Raider rotation: Tanecia Stanczak, Taima Carden, and Cheyenne Kelly-Marconi.

Piturachsatit said Stanczak “is becoming an excellent blocker,” and that Carden “has an excellent serve and plays well in the back row, although her front court attack is improving.”

Kelly-Marconi was added to the mix last week against Waterville and continues to be an asset to the team, Piturachsatit said.

“Cheyenne is an all-around player who is improving tremendously as a passer,” he said.

The Lady Raiders hope to move ahead from last week’s loss with the two matches this week, including last night’s after-deadline match at 1B Soap Lake and tomorrows home match against Liberty Bell starting at 5:30 at Gailord Nelson Gym.

At the halfway point of the season, the Lady Raiders hope to improve their league record to assure themselves of a berth into the District 5-6 2B tournament and earn a shot at one of the three state berths allocated by the the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association for this classification cycle.