The Lady Raiders dropped all three of their volleyball matches last week, with the last two decided in three games.

At home Oct. 15, the Lady Raiders came out flat against Oroville and flew behind. In the second game, LR showed some spark and tied up the match at one all. Then the momentum swung back to the Hornets in the third game. Down two games to one the Lady Raiders played the Hornets tough in the fourth game where it went tit for tat. In the end, the Hornets had the staying power to claim the victory three games to one.

At Bridgeport Thurday, the Central Washington 2B League-leading Fillies took advantage of the Lady Raiders’ struggles to grab a three-game sweep.

“They want to do well, but can’t seem to find a way to win,” commented LR Head Coach Nate Piturachsatit.

LR returned home for a match Saturday against the Entiat Tigers. The Tigers had a solid team and played smart volleyball.

“This was the first game in a while where they were looking like a team, trusting in each other and moving on the court in unison,” Piturachsatit said. The Lady Raiders put together good runs and played with more confidence in the first game, but the Tigers sneaked past them.

LR took the lead in the second game, thanks to a Mikel Friedlander serving streak and a Kassadi Boutain kill. Then the Tigers came back and it became a back-and-forth match until the Tigers sealed the win as the Lady Raiders’ struggles reappeared and they could not put together any offense. Entiat won by a large margin.

The Lady Raiders had seven aces in the match against Entiat. Kammi Rosenbaum and Friedlander had three apiece. LR recorded 19 kills: Kassadi Boutain slammed down five, Chyenne Kelly-Marconi recorded four and Kaylee Ducos contributed three. Kelly-Marconi also had two blocks.

With two weeks left in the season, Coach Piturachsatit wants his squad to take away a good lesson from the Entiat match. “It is a step in the right direction as we fought hard for two games before losing it in the third,” he said.

Looking ahead to this week, Coach Piturachsatit set the goal of “looking for a strong finish for our team as we end the season, something to build on for next year.”

Yesterday the Lady Raiders travelled to Manson to take on the Trojans, whom they defeated earlier this season. On Oct. 29, the Lady Raiders will host the Mountian Lions of Liberty Bell for Senior Night and their final game of the season at Gailord Nelson Gym, starting at 5:30 p.m.

Bridgeport game scores 25-7, 25-13, 25-14

Entiat game scores 25-20, 25-22, 25-9