9-seed Northeast defeats LLCC 25-21, 15-25, 17-25, 20-25

LLCC finished the National Tournament with a loss to Northeast (Nebraska) in four sets.  The Loggers won the first set, but struggled the next two-and-a-half before finding a rhythm, though at that point it proved to no avail.  The Loggers were led by Kiley Brunstein's 19 kills and Bobana Marusic's 3 aces and 19 digs.

"We just couldn't find a rhythm after the first set," Coach Dietz said.  "Essentially, we have certain weaknesses that could be exploited and when coaches watch film they see them.  Grand Rapids took advantage of that and today Northeast did.  It's stuff we saw in August early on, but we couldn't fix it enough to help the past couple days."   Dietz shrugged, "But I told the team afterwards that the goal for every seasons is--make it to Nationals.  After that, you see who gets hot, who does not.  We just had a bad couple days, but that doesn't take away from the incredible achievement of reaching the Elite Eight in a year where we fought through so many injuries."

The final record for LLCC was 29-14. They will open the 2019 season in August at the Wichita Opening Weekend Tournament.

MATCH STATS:
Digs: Marusic 19, Thomas 14
Aces: Marusic 3, Dour 1
Blocks: Melton 6, Taig 4
Assists: Jackson 41
Kills: Brunstein 19, Edwards 7

NOTE: Kiley Brunstein was named to the all-National Tournament team, finishing the four matches with 60 kills total.



MATCH IMAGES: