LLCC defeats Illinois Valley 25-13, 25-20, 20-25, 26-24
LLCC defeats Carl Sandburg 25-10, 34-32, 24-26, 25-21
In the next-to-last match of the regular season, LLCC defeated Illinois Valley in four sets, 25-13, 25-20, 20-25, 26-24. Things started quickly as the Loggers jumped to a quick five point lead, expanding it to eight with sets and kills from sophomore Brook Soebbing, ending the set with two kills and two block from freshman Maree Taig. The second set saw solid blocking from Taig and an aggressive run of serves by outside Kaylee Beekman as LLCC went up 2-0. The third set saw Lincoln Land with a string of unforced errors which put the squad in a 19-11 hole. Though Delaney Edwards put down two kills, it wasn't enough and the Loggers lost 25-20. The fourt set saw LLCC lead almost the entire way, though Illinois Valley kept it close. It wasn't until 22-20 that the Loggers opened a winning margin behind a kill from Addie Patton and an ace by Delaney Edwards.  "Our defense should've been better in the third set," Coach Dietz said afterwards. "Illinois Valley was hitting the ball consistently, but we were passive on defense,waiting for someone else to act--and that's not the secret to good D. When we picked it up again, it carried over to our serve-receive and we were fine again in that deciding set."
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In the regular season finale, Lincoln Land came out fast, smacking Carl Sandburg College 25-10 behind the hitting of freshmen Delaney Edwards and Kourtney Bilyeu. The second set was set to be a blowout until a run of errors and three CSC kills brought the game to a stalemate at 22, eventually ending on an LLCC block for the win at 34-32. The Loggers fell behind in the third set and were unable to do more than breakeven before losing the set 24-26. In the deciding set, LLCC was down 15-16 before it showed signs of offensive life as Addie Patton put down several of her match-high 21 kills, leading to a 25-21 win. "Too many missed serves. I'm ok with misses, but we were just off. It happens. The bright side is our serve-receive passing was spot-on. As always, good serve-receive passing will dig you out of any hole."
The Loggers end the regular season 32-6 and are currently on a 12 match winning streak. They begin their post season play in Region 24 tournament against Frontier Community College Wednesday night at 6 pm.
Match Stats:
vs. IVCC
Digs: Anderson 14, Beekman 9
Aces: Edwards 2, Marusic 2
Block: Patton 5, Taig 4
Assists: Anderson 36, Soebbing 7
Kills: Edwards 11, Patton 8
vs. Sandburg
Digs: Beekman 23, Sobotka 20
Aces: Anderson 2, Patton 1
Blocks: Anderson 5, Bilyeu 5
Assists: Anderson 50
Kills: Patton 21, Edwards 8, Bilyeu 8
