GILFORD -The Big Sandy Pioneer netters are sick of the bus.

A duo of difficult defeats last week on the Hi-Line left the Lady Pioneer volleyball squad eager to hit the gym for a back-to-back-to-back series this week.

Their own gym. For the first time this season. At long last.

"The girls and myself are so excited," Pioneers coach Brittany McKenney said. "It is time for a home game. We have been on the road a lot."

The Pioneers fell to 1-4 on the season, including an 0-4 mark in the District 6C East with straight-set sweeps against Chester-Joplin-Inverness Sept. 17 and North Star Thursday in Gildford.

The time and place are right for a momentum shift this week as Big Sandy hosts Highwood Thursday night, Hays-Lodge Pole on Friday night and Centerville Saturday night.

The junior high tips off at 4 p.m. Thursday with junior varsity at 6 p.m. and varsity starting 20 minutes after the JV conclusion. Junior high tips at 3:30 Friday and JV at 5 p.m. with varsity 20 minutes past the jayvee finish. On Saturday, jayvees begin at 6 p.m. with the +20 start for varsity.

Highwood is a nonleague opponent, Hays-Lodge Pole is also looking for its first league win (and unlike Big Sandy, lacks a nonleague victory) and Centerville is the squad the Pioneers bested in the season opener.

If Lady Pioneer fans turn out and turn up the volume anything like the raucous homecoming crowd did in Gilford, expect good things to happen.

"They definitely had the crowd going and came out with a lot of energy and it was very loud in this gym," McKenney said after a 25-9, 25-6 and 25-11 loss at North Star.

The visiting Pioneers showed flashes but could not sustainably match the home team's intensity.

"We really tried on every point we got to come together and try to bring the excitement and energy," the coach said. "Once (North Star) got on runs, it was tough to keep that energy up like we needed to."

"We had some good hits, even though their blockers are hard," said Pioneers outside hitter Alicia Bjornestad. "We knew coming in it was a hard team."

McKenney praised Bjornestad's literally hard-nosed play. The junior collided with a teammate and incurred a bloody nose for her effort, changing her usual no. 3 jersey for no. 7 after it stained and making a gritty return to the court to start the next set.

"It was OK. I just shoved a paper towel up there and played," Bjornestad said.

"We really continue to struggle with communicating. The crowd noise made it that much more difficult," McKenney said. "We had our fair share of collisions. I'm definitely proud of (Alicia) for toughing that out."

Bjornestad and Hope Gasvoda each had a team-high 2 aces. Amanda Cline led with 8 digs.

The coach, Pioneers' bench and game officials concurred in awarding Bjornestad the sportsmanship award for her team at match end.

The Big Sandy JV fell 3-1 to North Star in a 25-16, 25-11, (15-8) and 15-11 match.

Sophomore Amiya Griffith

The visit to C-J-I offered its own frustrations.

"It was a really close match overall, one of those that could have gone either way," McKenney said, adding each of three sets were agonizingly close, 25-22, 25-20 and 25-23. "Definitely, we played well. Amanda Cline played for the first time as our libero and did well. We served really well, at 93 percent and were strong in serving again (Thursday) night."

Lainey Gregory led Big Sandy with 13 digs against C-J-I and added 11 assists. Stacey Allderdice had a team-high 6 kills.