The Kelly Walsh volleyball team has had an impressive start to the season with an overall record of 22-2 so far. The Trojans started off relatively slow but they have recently been on a winning streak of 14 games.
One of their most recent games has been against the cross town rivals, Natrona County High School, for the annual Pre-VolleyBowl match. Later in the season, the two teams will face off again for the annual VolleyBowl at Natrona and the Lady Trojans will fight to keep the trophy they won last year. The Kelly Walsh volleyball team has won 16 VolleyBowl games compared to Natrona County who has won 15.
“The Volleybowl and Pre-Volleybowl are my favorite because of the energy in the room. Mostly, the energy on the court, the energy from the bench, and most of all the energy coming from the crowd. Also, since we are cross town rivals, the competitiveness is just next level. It makes everyone play harder and is just so fun,” junior Madyn Waring said.
In the most recent Pre-VolleyBowl, the Kelly Walsh Trojans took the win in just three sets. The scores of the sets were 25-8, 25-10, and 25-23. When asked about her thoughts on the win against Natrona County
“The win was awesome. It is always a fun game and this one was too. I thought I personally played well and just wasn’t thinking too much, which set me up for success. I just was really in the flow, in my opinion,” senior Kendal Allaire said.
Allaire added, “The team played really well the first two games. We came out with some fire knowing not to underestimate them. In the third game we got a bit too relaxed and almost let NC back in. Our energy was low and we kind of expected them to roll over and give it to us. Luckily we pulled it together in the end.”
When one of the schools wins the VolleybBowl trophy, it gives the winning team bragging rights for a whole year. The Trojan seniors always show out in hopes to win their last Pre-VolleyBowl/VolleyBowl ever.
Senior Jordan Kroeger, one of the Kelly Walsh volleyball team leaders, talked about what the rivalry game means to her now that she is a senior.
“We play the Fillies every year and what we don’t realize is that every time we play a game, we can never get that time back. We have limited time as seniors, and in this case limited games against the Fillies. Knowing that I will play the cross town rivals one more time is a bittersweet feeling. The competition is always there and the crowds always show out every year. They are going to be memories I will never forget,” Kroeger said.
Casper is a town that always gets excited about rivalry games. Winning against the cross town rivals is both a confidence booster and another trophy placed in the trophy case.
“Hopefully our win in the Pre-VolleyBowl foreshadows what will happen in the VolleyBowl.” Allaire said.
