LINGLE – The Niobrara County High School volleyball team began their season last Friday at the Lingle-Fort Laramie Dogger Invitational. As Lusk adjusts to class 1A, many new schools will evolve in rivalries such as Upton, Hulett, Hanna-Elk Mountain (HEM) and Arvada-Clearmont.

First up was last season’s third-place team at the 1A state tournament from Upton. The Lady Bobcats edged past the Lady Tigers in two sets, 25-23 and 25-19.

Hulett was next on the rotating schedule and also a state qualifier last fall. The Lady Tigers were much more relaxed in defeating the Lady Red Devils in two sets, 25-12 and 25-20.

The Lady Miners pushed NCHS to three sets, yet Lusk was able to hold off HEM by scores of 25-19, 19-25 and 15-9.

It is very likely that the tournament finale against the Arvada-Clearmont Lady Panthers was the first-ever meeting between the schools in volleyball. The Lady Tigers won in two sets, 25-17 and 25-11.

Individual stats were unavailable at press time, but as a team NCHS had an impressive 92 percent from the service line.

The Lady Tigers’ next action is Sept 10, as they travel to Crawford for non-conference matches with the host school and Hemingford.