Rock Springs volleyball ready for higher expectations
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. (BVM) — High schools like Kelly Walsh and Cheyenne East are known for their volleyball successes in Wyoming. Those two programs have won 14 of the past 19 WHSAA Class 4A state titles, with Kelly Walsh having won it the past three years.
Rock Springs can’t quite relate. The Tigers have never won a state title and last year’s 4A state quarterfinal appearance was their first in eight years. But if any team is going to shake things up at the state tournament this fall, Rock Springs could be the best bet to do it.
“A few years ago, making it to state would be awesome, but it wasn’t an expectation,” Rock Springs head coach Shawn Pyer said. “This year, there’s no reason in my opinion that we shouldn’t be making it to state. … It’s probably the first time ever that we expect to go to state which is really exciting for our program.”
Most of the players who competed at state last year will be back on the court for Rock Springs this fall. And the Tigers are not only expected to make a return trip to state, but also compete for the championship. MaxPreps.com rates Rock Springs as the best volleyball team in Wyoming.
“It’s an excitement,” Pyer said of the ranking. “Rock Springs is not a team that has ever really been consistently noticed for its volleyball successes, so I don’t think my girls put a lot of pressure on themselves. It’s more of an honor to them. They’ve put in the work and they know what they’re capable of doing.”
With seven returning starters, the Tigers are capable of having more success than ever before. Five seniors who started as juniors are back, including 6-foot hitter Cali Pollastro, who led the team in blocks (177) and was third in kills (128) last season. Rock Springs also returns kills leader Brinley Jenkins and assists leader Emily Taucher, both juniors who have been playing varsity since their freshman year. Jenkins hammered 286 kills and was also second on the team in digs (258) a year ago. Taucher was third in digs (255) while tallying a team-high 737 assists, an average of 8 per game.
All of the returning talent and experience that was bound to benefit the Tigers has already shown up early in the season, according to Pyer.
“Just the level of play that we’re playing at right now already, it’s insane, honestly,” Pyer said. “What we’re able to do already at this point, it shows a lot of all the work we’ve put in.”
Work that will have to continue as the Tigers move deeper into a season that comes with higher expectations than ever before.
