On Friday, Lander and Jackson's volleyball teams clashed during the state playoffs, going back-and-forth all the way to a deciding fifth game watched by screaming fans for both teams.

Despite the close contest, the fans weren't screaming for the opposing team to mess up; instead they urged on their home teams with cheers and support.

That's a pretty common scene at many high school sports contests in the state, but Wyoming High School Activities Association Commissioner Ron Laird said his organization has taken efforts to keep fan behavior positive.

With the occasional national headline about a parent punching a coach or worse, the topic is one of concern to the WHSAA, though Laird said that he and his staff are putting procedures in place to quell taunts and comments not suitable for a high school environment.

He said students and fans see spectators behaving wildly on TV at college or pro-level games and think it's something that they can do at a high school contest.

It's not, Laird said.

He said the message gets presented at a local level to all the schools that home games can be intimidating environments for visiting teams, but not venues to insult and deride the traveling team.

At the Wyoming State High School Volleyball Championships, the public address announcer often announced the policies for being a fan at the tournament. The fans were encouraged to offer loud, but appropriate, cheers during the game, and a one-row buffer zone was created between the spectators and the teams on the Casper Event Center floor so opposing fans wouldn't be hovering directly over an opponent's bench.

Those watching Lander-Jackson seemed like they would have been civil with or without the additional procedures.

"You get so attached to some teams," Wanda Nicholas, mother of Lander's Siarra Nicholas, said. "You hate to see them lose too."

The two teams' supporters sat in sections right next to each other, shouting and clapping after made points, filling the southwest side of the event center with noise, but not tension.

"We try not to sit in the middle of another team," Nicholas said. "And we do just fine."

She said she encourages with her cheering, and tries to boost up the team and keep them from getting too nervous during a game. She and other players' parents bought green pom-poms at a party store in Casper, and waved them after their team scored.

"Good call!" yelled a Lander parent after a line judge called a ball in bounds, even though the call favored Jackson.

It was one of many examples of good form seen on the Friday of the tournament.

"We are proud of you," Jackson cheerleaders chanted after the team lost 3-2. "We are proud of you!"

Contact reporter Cory Matteson at (307) 266-0589 or cory.matteson@casperstartribune.net.