3 Local Athletes Ink NLI

On Collegiate National Letter of Intent signing day on Wednesday, February 6th there were a trio of student athletes from Campbell County, WY that inked their names to play college volleyball at Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) in Torrington, WY.

Campbell County High School's (CCHS) Jacey Holst and McKayla Peterson along with Wright High School's (WHS) Brittany Belt will all be playing for Head Coach Verl Patsch, Jr. and the Lancers, which is a member of the NJCAA.

Jacey Holst, who was an inside and outside hitter for the Lady Camels, is coming off a senior season where she compiled 178 kills with an overall attack percentage of 75%. She also had a 98% set ratio, 115 total blocks with a ratio of 27%. Holst has been dreaming about playing college volleyball since she was a sophomore playing for Gillette Head Coach Toni Hladky, “It's been a huge dream for me, I've been wanting to do it since I was a sophomore. (Toni) Hladky has really helped me fulfill that and get a good scholarship and I'm just excited to play.” Holst also commented on how important the scholarship from EWC was in her decision to go to Torrington, “Getting to go to school for free is definitely exciting...you just don't get a free ride to school that often.”

McKayla Peterson, another hitter for the Lady Camels, was 2nd on the Lady Camels with 261 good attacks and 3rd with 185 kills good for an attack ratio of 85%. Peterson was also the top server on her team with a 96% success ratio on her serves as she racked up 42 aces. She also had 82 digs and 160 total or partial blocks. Peterson and Holst have been teammates since they entered CCHS and Jacey is looking forward to the opportunity of continuing to play with McKayla, “(The chance to play) is definitely exciting...she has definitely been a great teammate and really good friend, so I'm really excited be able to have somebody I know on the team and we get along and play together so great, so it's gonna be a great time.”

Brittany Belt, a lefty setter who played all four years of varsity for Coach Wenett Martin and the Lady Panthers in Wright, helped WHS to their 1st ever girls state volleyball title in 2011. Belt was a member of 4 teams that went to the Wyoming High School State volleyball tournament. Besides winning it all in 2011 she also helped the Lady Panthers to runner up finish in 2010 and 3rd place in 2012. As a sophomore and junior she lead the Lady Panthers in serving percentage at 96% and 97% and this last year she switched to a jump serve and her percentage dropped to 92%, but her aces more than doubled to 88 in 2012. Belt was also a 3 time all-conference selection, all-state in 2012 and player of the year in 2012 for the Northeast Conference and she was voted to the 2013 Wyoming All Star team.

All 3 ladies will graduate from their respective high schools this May and begin classes this fall at EWC. For more on the Lancers volleyball team click here http://ewc.wy.edu/athletics/volleyball/vbabout.cfm