LLCC defeats Lincoln Trail 25-21, 25-13, 25-15
LLCC defeats John Wood 25-21, 25-17, 25-16

LLCC played its second triangular in three days Tuesday at Cass Gym against Region 24 foes Lincoln Trail and John Wood.
 
GAME ONE:
In the opening contest against Lincoln Trail, the Loggers started quick with a sideout kill and ace by freshman Mary Hill, opening a 3-0 lead before errors created a 3-4 deficit.  Lincoln Land righted the ship quickly with kills by Annika Black and Kennedy Bauer.  LLCC couldn't open much of a lead though as they had six service errors during the contest, though set point happened to be a serve-error by the Statesmen.  In the second set, the two teams trader mistakes for the first eight points.  At 10-8, LLCC broke the contest open with a big overpass-kill by Bauer, followed by an aggressive run of serves by sophomore Jakya Pealer and a kill from freshman Madison LaBranch, winning the set on a kill off the block by Ashley Webb.  In the final set, LLCC played volleyball bingo at the start, scoring on a block, an ace, and then kills from the left, middle, and right sides to open a 5-0 lead before four errors brought the Statesmen back into the contest and a 5-5 tie.  Libero Natalie Bates' serving run of eight points opened the set to 13-5 and it was followed a rotation later by an ace by Taylor Thomas to make it a ten-point game.  Blocking by Annika Black and Maggie Plush sustained the margin and the Loggers finished it off on an ace by Molly Ashbaugh.
 
"We hit very well tonight, made good choices even with the errors we made.  They weren't silly ones.  Those  were limited to our serving errors—too many that were risky rather than just aggressive.  That's nitpicking though.  Against a scrappy Lincoln Trail defense, we were able to spread the ball around and get quality swings.  That was important for us."
 
 GAME ONE STATS:
Vs. LTC
Digs: Bates 17, Hill 14
Aces: Hill 3, Thomas 2, Eaker 2
Blocks: Black 2, Eaker 2, Melton 2
Assists: Volk 34, Pealer 9
Kills: Hill 11, Black 9

**

GAME TWO:
 
LLCC finished the night against the Blazers of John Wood.  LLCC started slow, unable to lead by more than one point as both squads started sloppy.  At 9-7, LLCC went on a run, keyed by a Molly Ashbaugh dig back over the net that found the corner untouched for a point, opening a run for LLCC 16-10.  John Wood picked up a string of kills to bring it back to 18-17 before LLCC opened a three point lead that finished at 25-21 on a block by Ashley Melton and Kennedy Bauer.  The second set saw the Loggers jump to a 5-0 lead on an ace by Ashbaugh and a kill by Bauer though the Blazers crept back to 6-4 before LLCC pulled further away on a run of serves by Ashbaugh fueled by two of Melton's match-high five blocks.  Another solo-block, this time by Mary Hill, opened it to 19-12 and the lead remained six until Ashbaugh finished the set with consecutive aces, 25-17.  In the third set, LLCC errors started the Loggers in a quick hole, but two Melton kills gave LLCC the lead.  It remained a three point lead until serves from Hill opened it to 6 and a kill from Madison LaBranche opened the game to 22-15.  A kill from middle Maggie Plush finished the contest 25-16.
 
"John Wood came in 3-1 in the Region and beating them was going to be important to make sure of standings and how the post-season lines up.  We had a couple runs of errors, but only one was what had been usual for us—the other was a run of mistakes of us trying to apply what we work on in practice and those are the sorts of things you can handle as a coach," Jim Dietz said after the match.

GAME TWO STATS:
Vs. John Wood
Digs: Hill 13, Bates 12
Aces: Ashbaugh 3, Hill 1
Blocks: Melton 5, Black 2, Eaker 2
Assists: Volk 38
Kills: Melton 10, Hill 9


Record: 21-10
 
NEXT: FRI, 3pm at Parkland for MWAC Tournament