#13 LLCC defeats #18 McHenry 25-20, 25-10, 25-6
LLCC closed out the Kirkwood Invitational with a decisive win over #18 McHenry 25-20, 25-10, 25-6 to finish 2-2 vs. ranked teams on the weekend. The Loggers started slowly, beginning the first set with five unforced errors and an equal deficit before Coach Dietz called timeout. The timeout seemed to help as the Loggers pared a 9-4 deficit, catching the Scots at 111-11. Points alternated back and forth to 20-20 before solid Logger defense, two unforced McHenry errors and a decisive kill by Molly Tauke at set point gave LLCC the win.
Lincoln Land started slow in the second as well, trading points to 4-4 at which point Tauke took over again with her hitting, opening the set to a 9-5 Logger lead. The ball rolled quickly after that as Kiley Brunstein and Olivia Dour shut down the Scot offense with their blocking (the two combined for 9 blocks on the match), giving Lincoln Land a 17-6 lead. At that point, it was the defense's turn to take over as Lainey Jackson and Bobbi Marusic kept the balloon from touching the ground, breaking it wide open to 24-9. Ashley Melton finished it off at 25-10 with a short tip.
In the third set, the Loggers opened up a quick 5-1 lead that raced to 13-3 on kills from Molly Tauke and further to 16-4 behind consecutive aces by Kiley Brunstein. LLCC was unchallenged the rest of the way, winning 25-6.
"I was frustrated how we came out in the first set. We looked out of focus--which has been part of our problem when we play multiple matches in a day and we have to get better at that," Coach Jim Dietz emphasized. "The bright spot is that a light switch turned on at 20-19when Ashley (Melton) hit a big slide and that energized us the rest of the way. Given we were missing three people this weekend, 2-2 is pretty good. We lost to a couple of ranked teams, beat a couple. We just need to keep improving as the season goes along."
The Loggers now hold a record of: 7-6
NEXT GAME: WED @ Lewis & Clark, 6pm
MATCH STATS:
Digs: Jackson 9, Marusic 8
Aces: Brunstein 4, Tauke 3
Blocks: Brunstein 5, Dour 4
Assists: Jackson 29
Kills: Brunstein 11, Tauke 8, Melton 8
