The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

The "Big Sandy" part of Big Sandy Pioneers volleyball finally rang true in a long-awaited homestand that included the girls' first league win.

The victory came in a 3-0 sweep Friday of Hays-Lodgepole, the first 6C East team to visit the Big Sandy gym this season. The Pioneers racked up a 25-18, 25-14, 25-11 defeat of the Thunderbirds.

On the road for their first five matches and a pair of tournaments, the Pioneer netters finally played their home opener Thursday. It came nearly four weeks after tipping off the season. Unfortunately, a common theme that developed away followed Big Sandy home, as the Pioneers dropped a 25-19, 25-17, 25-23 decision to Geraldine-Highwood. They stayed close each set, especially the last, but not enough to get the edge.

Libero Amanda Cline recorded an impressive team-high 27 digs in the effort. Lainey Gregory led the Pioneers with 12 assists and a pair of aces. Seanna Demontiney, Alicia Bjornestad and Amiya Griffith shared a team-best 3 kills against the Rivals.

Big Sandy bounced back in a big way the next day, facing the only other 6C East squad still in search of a league win. Clutch serving, solid defense and a powerful performance up front at the net sparked the dominant effort against the T-Birds.

"It was time for a win," said Pioneers coach Brittany McKenney. "I think serving, honestly, helped us a lot ... and the work we did defensively helped us, too. Our hitters were putting the ball down, which was nice to see, too."

McKenney said the team emphasized defense in early-week practices leading up to the home series and improvement has been evident.

"I made some changes to the lineup and, so far, I'm liking how it's working," she said.

McKenney praised Cline's efforts at libero and said the switches "also forced Seanna (Demontiney) to step up to the front and she's been hitting well."

All of the team's seniors are now in the starting lineup, if Cline at libero is included, and the coach said the team has responded well to their leadership.

Senior Amanda Cline

Cline again led the team with 22 digs and Gregory recorded 13 kills. Bjornestad and Tavie Wortman each tallied 3 aces. Wortman's serving closed out the first-set win with a 4-0 run while Bjornestad led an 8-0 run to wrap up the second set. Griffith had both of the team's blocks in the match and tied Stacey Allderdice with a team-high 4 kills.

A third consecutive home match had been scheduled for Saturday against Centerville, a non-league foe Big Sandy dispatched at the start of the year. The match had to be canceled due to snow.

The Lady Pioneers returned to the road Tuesday for a visit to Highwood after press time. Their next match will be at home Friday against 6C East leader Chinook, with the junior varsity start at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity match to follow.