#5 LLCC defeats #13 Kirkwood 30-28, 25-17, 25-16

#5 defeats #18 Johnson County 25-23, 25-22, 25-20

LLCC played two matches Friday at its second Invitational.  In the first, the Loggers defeated #13 Kirkwood in straight sets.  The first set was a tightly contested affair.  LLCC almost gave the game away with a rotation error and playing two balls heading out of bounds, but righted the ship at 21-24, coming back with the hitting of Kourtney Bilyeu and Addie Patton, before winning with an ace by Addie Patton that hit the net and trickled over.  LLCC dominated the final two sets, winning the second on a streak of unforced Kirkwood errors.  The third set saw the Loggers take a big lead and hold it as Bobana Marusic picked up two of her four aces and Michaela Chrappa's perfect dig led to LLCC's final run of points in the victory.  

"We played well at times.  As always, we have to watch for giving up silly points.  Kirkwood did that in the second set, but we gave points right back.  We were lucky that we had built a cushion at that point and recovered before they did—they're too good a team to play silly-ball against."

******

LLCC faced off against Johnson County for the second time this season, having defeated the Cavaliers in four sets on Opening Day.  Tonight, the Loggers won in three despite severe struggles with their serve, missing fifteen of seventy total serves.  "That's more that 20%," Coach Dietz said, shaking his head.  "It is a good thing we were passing well to get immediate sideouts back and then had people hitting well.  I thought Brea had a couple clutch swings in the first set, then Bailey in the second, and an all-around effort in the third."

All three sets remained within two points until the fifteen point mark, and only the final set saw it broken open to five (25-20).  

Lincoln Land now sits at 25-6 on the season.

The Loggers continue play in Invitational tomorrow morning at 9:30am vs. Kansas City Kansas CC

Match Stats:

Stats vs. Kirkwood
Digs: Marusic 14, Beekman 11
Aces: Marusic 4, 4 tied w/ 1
Blocks: Bilyeu 2, 3 tied w/ 1
Assists: Anderson 45
Kills: Patton 15, Edwards 11

Stats vs. Johnson County 
Digs: Sobotka 12, Marusic 11
Aces: Anderson 3, 3 tied w/ 1
Blocks: 5 tied w/ 1
Assists: Anderson 39
Kills: Patton 14, Rexroad 7