T-Birds Drop 1st Round Match at Region IX Tournament

In junior college volleyball, the Region IX tournament moves along Thursday in Casper. The top 2 teams will advance to the national tournament in West Plains, Missouri so a team with one loss can still get to the big show. Last night, Casper college a #1 seed lost to Otero in 4 sets 25-22, 25-18, 19-25, and 25-17. Casper entered the tournament with a record of 16-10 while Otero started the week at 11-12. The Rattlers also had a height advantage with one player at 6-4 and another at 6-3. So will send the T-Birds to the consolation bracket and they’ll play LCCC from Cheyenne at 2 pm this afternoon. LCCC started yesterday, beating Lamar in the play-in game 3-0 and then lost to NJC from Sterling, Colorado in bracket play 3-0, 25-19, 25-19, and 25-9. Also in bracket play, central Wyoming lost to McCook 3 sets to 2. So McCook plays Western Nebraska in a winners bracket game at 4 pm.

Western Nebraska is the 11^th ranked team in the country and beat eastern Wyoming in the first round. Eastern Wyoming plays Central Wyoming in a loser-out game at noon today. Otero and NJC will play at 6 in the other winner's bracket. The tournament continues tomorrow and Saturday at the Erickson gym at Casper college.