by marlys good
Twenty-three girls will be vying for starting positions on the Greybull High School Lady Buff net team and Coach Tom Goton has tapped eight of the 23 to make the trip to the Saratoga tournament this weekend.
Making the long bus ride will be Tyler Anne Brown, Kate Wilkinson, Aubree Kraft, Kirbi Anderson, Kyra Cundall, Jackie Miller, Alex Powers and either Alicia Brown or Lindsey Kern.
For the first time in a long time, Goton is looking at some height at the net, which “will be a switch. I think we’ll get some blocks this year,” he said with a laugh. The netters have been working hard, but “no question about it, we still have to get a lot better at passing. We are doing quite a few drills here and there — because we are really down in that area. I’m not sure other teams don’t have this same problem; passing is the key to everything.”
The 23 team members include seniors Brown, Wilkinson, Ruby Sixberry, Kinzie Baker and Ludi Mendez; juniors Craft, Brown, Miller and transfer student Erin Kirkham and sophomores Anderson, Cundall, Katie Hoff, Jessica Hunt, Kern, Melissa Lipp and Powers; and seven freshmen.
With the exception of the five seniors, all other athletes will be playing at multi-levels. This assures them of a lot of court time, with both JV and freshmen matches on tap.
Goton said this year’s group is “well-rounded, but not heavily loaded at positions. Ludi, Ruby and Tyler played a lot of varsity last year and that will help a lot. They have already stepped up and are ready to take on leadership roles.”
Goton predicts that, “If people accept the roles we give them, progress as we have been, and work hard, we should be able to make it to state. We have key players in key positions.”
Goton will start the season with a 5-1 offense (Wilkinson is tapped as the setter for the opener), “but I just don’t know if that will stay. We’ve done some setter techniques — different ways setters go to the ball and they are still getting used to it, but it seems to be working so far. It has helped us place the ball better and we’re looking for that.”
Greybull is in Pool C with Wyoming Indian, Encampment and Guernsey-Sunrise for Friday’s pool play. Teams will be seeded into the gold, silver, bronze or copper bracket for Saturday’s tournament with matches decided on a random draw.
Also participating will be Saratoga, Lingle, Snake River, Dubois, Upton, Pine Bluffs, Big Piney, Hanna, St. Stephens, Farson, Midwest and Burns.
 The JV Buffs, under the leadership of Sara Sessions, will participate in the JV tournament at Rocky Mountain.