Lady Raiders fight hard through long week

Lady Raider volleyball fought hard through fatigue and tough opponents last week as they played 19 games in three days. Head Coach Nate Piturachsatit was proud of the way the girls kept playing, "Even though they were tired they didn't let it show on the court." Coach Piturachsatit also said, " It was encouraging to see such heart from them even when they were so worn out. "

The week started at home against the Waterville Shockers on the 19th at Gailord Nelson Gym. The match was a hard- fought affair with the match being decided in the fifth game. LR won the match with the scores of the games being 25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 19-25, and in the fifth game the score was LR 15, Shockers 9. With no time in between to prepare, the Lady Raiders traveled south to Yakima on the 20th to take on the Riverside Christian Crusaders. The Lady Raiders shocked the home crowd by taking the first game by the score of 25-21. The Crusaders came back to win the next three games. The scores for the match was 25-21, 21-25, 10-25, and 15-25.

Then after the trip to Yakima on the 20th, the Lady Raiders traveled again on the 21st to Bridgeport for the Bridgeport Tournament. There the Lady Raiders played Pateros, Waterville, Liberty Bell, and host Bridgeport. The Lady Raiders defeated Waterville for a second time and avenged their loss to Bridgeport at the Davenport tourney by beating them on Saturday. LR lost to the two perennial contenders in the North Central B League, Liberty Bell and Pateros. LR finished 3rd overall at the Bridgeport Tournament.

Chyenne Kelly-Marconi and Holly Carriere are the point leaders for the team. Both have been averaging 10 points a game and Coach Piturachsatit says they make it difficult for the other team to have success when they are on the court. The team leader is Kassidi Boutain who Coach Piturachsatit says,"Her enthusiasm is contagious and the team feeds off her." He contines his praise for Boutain saying, "It's not the single stat that she is leading in, it is her overall game that is having such an impact. "

With some practice time to iron out the kinks, Coach Piturachsatit says the girls need to work on attacking from the back row and transitioning from offense to defense. These skills will be tested this week when the Lady Raiders travel tomorrow to Oroville to take on the Hornets in a match starting at 5 p.m. at Oroville High School. The Hornets struggled last year but have a new coach this season and a better turnout. The Lady Raiders take to the road again on Saturday as they travel to Waterville to take on the Shockers in an 11 a.m. match at Waterville High School. This will be the third time in ten days LR has played Waterville. Coach Piturachsatit believes that the Lady Raiders are in for another hard fought match against the Shockers.