By: Shawn O’Brate
FREMONT COUNTY – One of the biggest sports in the world, and one of the more populated in Wyoming high schools, is the sport of volleyball. The sport is packed with talent from border to border and many Fremont County schools have found some diamonds in the rough as well as some pure talent.
After the regular season was completed there were two Fremont County teams that were able to travel to Casper last weekend to take place in the 2022 Wyoming Volleyball State Championship Tournament: Riverton and Shoshoni.
Surprisingly, the two Fremont County teams were also two of the teams with first-year head coaches with Riverton High School (RHS) hiring Kim Davis in the offseason and Shoshoni bringing back Christina Mills after she had taken a three-season break from coaching and finishing last year as the interim Lady Wrangler coach. Both teams not only made state but they also were able to post student-athletes on the 2022 All-State selections.
First up, in the 2A Class it was Coach Mills’ senior “go-to” player Hailey Donelson who cracked the list for the first time in her high school career. Coach Mills said that Donelson “has that grit at the end of the game” that helped them pull out some of those victories during the season and against Kemmerer to get into the final day’s matchups at State.
Big Horn (4), Burns (2) and Wright (2) finished with the most All-State selections in the 2A Class around Donelson.
In the 3A Class it was Lander’s Aggie Brown that graced the list, also marking the first time she made the list in her four-year high school career. At the beginning of the season Lander’s Head Coach Marissa Powell said that Brown, who’s been playing on the Varsity team since her sophomore year, would really be stepping into a leadership role this season and that she hoped it would “bring the best out in her.”
Obviously, Brown breaking through in her senior season after leading the Lady Tigers on the court showed through to the Wyoming Coaches Association (WCA) who voted her in.
And finally, in the 4A Class, Riverton’s Emmi Weber was the only Lady Wolverine to make the All-State selection list. New Head Coach Kim Davis shifted the look of her team quite a bit during the season and the junior setter for the Lady Wolverines really grew between the time they were learning Coach Davis’ style and program to when they won their way into the state tournament.
Weber not only grew on the court but she grew overall, winning a WHSAA Good Sportsmanship award last October for her attitude on and off the court.
Congratulations to all the girls who made the All-State list in volleyball! For more info and the full list of 2022 selections be sure to check out WyoToday.com.