LLCC won its two Friday matches at the Illinois Central Invitational beginning with a 3-1 victory over Rend Lake College.  The Loggers won the first game handily 25-9 and followed it with a quick 25-14 win game two, but as has been the case lately, efforts fell apart in game three as Rend Lake went on a six point run to go from a 10-10 tie to a 16-10 lead, stretching it eventually to the final25-16.  LLCC recovered early in game four for a quick 10-4 lead and then traded sideouts the remainder of the way to win 25-19.  Sabria Phillips led the Logger with 4 aces and 11 assists while Talesha Scott and Brook Soebbing combined for15 kills from the outside.  "I hate that Game Three letdown," Coach Dietz said. "It's frustrating--we have to come in with killer instinct, rather than let an opponent up off the ground.  That didn't happen tonight."
 

In the nightcap, LLCC defeated ranked Illinois Central in four sets.  In the first set, the Loggers built a small early lead and gradually expanded it behind the serving of Kiersten Anderson and the hitting of Brea Cunningham, winning 25-19.  The Loggers took game two on a thundering kill by Talesha Scott, one of her match high 13.  The third game saw the Loggers commit nine unforced errors in the first eleven points and drop into a 1-10 crater, though the squad fought back to a final loss of 22-25.  Game four was equally tight, though ICC built a five point lead to 13-8 before Lincoln Land eventually tied it at 21, took the lead and won 25-22.  "Bad match for us statistically.  Overall we didn't serve great after the first game and we hit .030 or so--when you think of that as a batting average...yikes.  It's the same as being in a 12-for-160 slump.  With that said, even in the deepest hole of game three, we kept fighting, kept working, and that resilience helped when things got weird in game four and we were able to outlast them.  The thing is--it's just a match.  The region match against Illinois Central doesn't come up until October.  That's the key one."



Game Results:
LLCC defeats Rend Lake 25-9, 25-14, 16-25, 25-19
LLCC defeats Illinois Central 25-19, 25-18, 22-25, 25-22
Record: 17-2, Region: 5-0
Next: 11am vs. Lincoln Trail and Jefferson College
 
vs.RLC
Digs: Knop 11, Carroll 6,Sobotka5
Aces: Phillips 4, Beekman 2, Carroll 2
Blocks: Cunningham 3, Scott 2
Assists: Phillips 11, Mueller 11
Kills: Scott 8, Soebbing 7
 
vs. ICC
Digs: Knop 29, Anderson 10
Aces: Mueller 3, Beekman 2
Blocks: Patton 4, Scott 2
Assists: Mueller 22, Anderson 17
Kills: Scott 13, Anderson 11
NOTE: Anderson registered a triple-double.