3-seed #3 Johnson County defeats 6-seed #12 LLCC 28-30, 25-23, 22-25, 17-25

LLCC faced off in the Elite Eight of the NJCAA Volleyball Championships against 3-seed and #3-ranked Johnson County in what turned out to be a barnburner of a match, though the Loggers fell to the Cavs in four sets.

The first set saw an early JCCC lead with the Loggers tying it at 13 on kills by Delaney Edwards and Ashley Melton before Erika Miller opened it to a 23-19 lead with two kills.  Johnson rallied on three LLCC errors and that proved costly as Lincoln Land couldn't close out the set.  Both teams had set points before Johnson scored the final two points to win 30-28.

The second set was back and forth as well with neither side able to build more than a three point lead throughout the contest as the Cavalier blocks held Kiley Brunstein in check while Logger defensive hustle kept numerous shots in play before Edwards and Melton scored kills for a 25-23 win.

In the third set, the two teams were even through 12 before a run of four LLCC errors opened a five point gap.  LLCC closed it before a defensive miscommunication happened leading to a point followed by a vicious Cavalier kill, giving JCCC a 25-22 win.

The fourth set also went back and forth to eleven before a combination of Johnson tip-attacks and LLCC errors gave the Cavaliers a eight-point run and a 20-12 lead.  Lincoln Land stopped JCCC at that point, but the two squads sided out the rest of the way as Johnson won 25-17.

"It's always disappointing to lose, especially tough matches," Jim Dietz said after the match.  "But we were in a hole with Molly Tauke not traveling and then Olivia Dour getting hurt in the first match when an opponent came under the net, so we couldn't make any adjustments.  We've dealt with it all year and we played hard, but we couldn't quite get it done.  The reality is Johnson's a good team--it's why they are #3 in the country--and we made them earn that win.  Now we'll get some good dinner, regroup, and get ready for tomorrow.  We'll play Grand Rapids again and it was a great match when we played them last month."  Dietz added in the end, "I told the girls that when you aim for the top, when you join a team that's trying to win, you'll be playing tough teams and sometimes they are better than you.  It doesn't make the sting of losing any better at the moment, but it shouldn't change your pride in being at the Big Dance or making an Elite Eight....a whole bunch of athletes at every level would kill for that chance."

Record: 29-12

Next: FRI @ 230 EST vs. 7-seed #11 ranked Grand Rapids CC

MATCH STATS:
Digs:  Marusic 18, Pealer 14
Aces: Brunstein 1, Thomas 1
Blocks: Melton 4, Taig 3
Assists: Jackson 45*
Kills: Brunstein 17, Edwards 15

*moves into 2nd all-time for career assists, 10 assists short of all-time season record


MATCH IMAGES: