When you spend the last three years dominating your opponents the way East High volleyball has dominated, you can expect a target on your back. Every team you play brings their “A” game, and you can expect nothing but their best.

At the Wyoming 4A State Volleyball Tournament, the Lady Thunderbirds saw everyone’s best and now there is a new team atop Class 4A volleyball. Casper Kelly Walsh avenged last year’s championship match loss, winning in four sets 25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 32-30.

“It was exciting,” said senior Lexi Trowbridge. “How many teams actually win three state titles and get runner up the next year? No one even expected us to be in the championship match.”

After East battled back and time and time again to tie the match at 2-2, the fourth set may go down as one of the best 4A history. Kelly Walsh was on the verge of closing it out with a 20-16 late lead, but East wasn’t quite ready to give up and fought back to tie the match at 22-22.

After exchanging shot after shot, the two teams traded points until the fourth set was tied at 30. Eventually the T-Birds had a hitting error and another kill blocked for a 32-30 KW win.

The Lady T-Birds could only comfort each other as KW raced to center court to celebrate finally taking down the best.

“Everyone expected us to get 6th place, lose to Laramie or to Natrona,” continued Trowbridge. “Just coming back from that is a good feeling. We had good girls last year, but we also have good girls this year. And the fact that we came together at the end of the year and battled and got second place was awesome.”