LOVELL — The MVHS Buffalos defeated the LHS Eagles last Saturday in the 3A West volleyball tournament in Lovell in four sets.

Both teams are headed to the state championship this week and both played their first game yesterday after the Pioneer’s press time. Mountain View’s first game was against Buffalo. Lyman’s was against Newcastle. The state championships are set for tomorrow Nov. 5. All the matches are to be played at the Ford Wyoming Center.

The regional tourney proved to be a battle between the two Valley titans, who have let the 3A all year, Lyman and Mountain View. During the regular season, Lyman took one game, and Mountain View took the second in five hard-fought sets just before heading to the regional tournament.

And as expected, when it was time for the championship game last week, it had been anticipated Mountain View and Lyman would again battle at the net. Before meeting on the court for another time, both teams had to take care of business during the pre-championship play and win two games for seeding at the state tournament. And, of course, none of the MVHS and LHS fans expected these teams to mark two losses and the end of their seasons.

On Friday last week, Lyman edged out Worland in three sets: 28-26, 25-10, 25-17. Then they played Powell, which was another game the Eagles won in three sets: 25-22, 25-15, 25-18.

Mountain View played Thermopolis and sailed to the win in three sets: 25-7, 25-7, 25-16. They also played Lovell, which proved to be more of a challenge, but the Buffalos took the win in three sets: 25-18, 25-19, 25-17. These games qualified both teams for the state tournament. But, of high Valley interest, these wins also put Mountain View and Lyman in the spotlight for the championship last Saturday. The final score of this game was 3-1, MVHS win: 27-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-21.

As of the ratings going into the state tournament, Mountain View and Lyman still have the highest win record of 3A. Mountain View’s overall and conference record is 32-4-1, 5-1. Lyman is right behind Mountain View with an overall of 31-5-1 and a conference record of 5-1. The team with the next best win record in 3A is SE Wheatland with a 25-8, 6-0 record. Earlier speculation for this season was the state winner would be from the South.