Robert Galbreath photos

PAVILLION – A decisive victory over Wind River High School on Saturday, Oct. 9, maintained the Lady Punchers’ position as the top seed in the 2A Southwest Quadrant with an undefeated conference record.

Pulling out all the stops, the opponents battled through four neck-and-neck sets with Big Piney coming out on top, 3-1.

The Cougars barely managed to slide ahead in a heater first set played beyond 25 points to pull out the win, 27-25.

The Lady Punchers rebounded and slammed down a victory in the second set, 25-12.

Big Piney’s fate remained up in the air as both sides battled for the lead in a third set that came down to the wire. The Lady Punchers scored the crucial points at the end of the set and secured the win, 25-21.

Overpowering the Cougars in the final set, the Lady Wranglers sailed to a 25-15 victory.

“It was as good game,” said head coach Kinsy Voss. “Wind River has improved a lot from the beginning of the season, but so have we. Wind River took the first game in a great fight, but we cleaned up our errors and took the next three sets for the match win.”

Big Piney finished the game with 19 kills, 15 assists, seven blocks, 33 digs and 10 aces.

Senior Hanna Hansen led in kills, delivering 10 over the net. Jocie Banks, also a senior, set up 15 assists for the Puncher offense.

Junior Hannah Runyan played a strong defense with five blocks. Banks hit 10 digs. Senior Sierra Keiter served up five aces.

Big Piney hosts conference rival Wyoming Indian on Friday, Oct. 15. Game times are 4 p.m. for junior varsity followed by varsity at 5 p.m. at the Puncher Gym.