The Lakeland women's volleyball team played host to the Lorain County Commodores today in non-league action. In a very exciting and even match, the Lakers eventually fell to the Commodores by a score of 3-2 (27-25, 23-25, 11-25, 25-20, 13-15). This match was battle of endurance as both teams played strong defense and had long rallys throughout the evening. With the Lakers trailing 2-1 in games, they came out quickly in game 4 as they took a 10-5 lead. Lakeland maintained the lead throughout the game with consistent high energy play. Every time the Commodores would go on a mini-run and cut the lead to 3, Lakeland would answer right back to expand their lead again. The game was won on a tough Taylor Williams-Stevens serve that was unreturnable to close out the game. In game 5, the Lakers continued their strong play as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead. The Lakers were paced by a kill from Estella Dotson and 2 kills from Sydney Park. The Commodores would cut into the lead at 5-4 before Park hit a ball that was deflected out of play for a 6-4 Laker lead. The two teams would then have consecutive long rallies where the Commodores would eventually hit shots long when trying to get over the Lakers front line. Leading 8-4, the Lakers would committ an unforced error and then Lorain would kill the ball to bring the Commodores within 2 points at 8-6. Avrie Shenkel then killed a ball before Lorain hit one long again to put the Lakers up 10-6. Lorain then went on a 5 point run as they hit a couple of kills combined with some timely pushes to take the lead at 11-10. Avrie Shenkel would hit another kill to tie the score at 11 before Taylor Williams-Stevens served an ace for a 12-11 Laker lead. Lakeland would then hit the next rally into the net before a Lorain kill to give the Commodores a 14-12 advantage. With the crowd roaring, the Commodores felt the pressure as they served into the net. The last play of the game came after a long rally with both teams making strong defensive plays. Unfortunately for the Lakers, it ended on a Commodore kill.
Lakeland had very strong front line play from Sydney Park, Taylor Williams-Stevens, Avrie Shenkel and Alyssa Lino throughout the evening. Park led the team with 16 kills while Williams-Stevens had 9 kills, 3 aces, and 2 solo blocks. Shenkel finished with 8 kills while Lino added 5 kills, 2 aces, and 3 solo blocks (plus 4 block assists). Lakeland also had exceptional defense along the back row as Zoe Babnik, Estella Dotson, Rebecca Ferrell, Allison Hedrick, and Abby Karasek each played strong games. Babnik led the Lakers with 12 digs while Dotson recorded a kill and 9 digs. Lakeland setter Samantha Winter continued her all-around stellar play as she finished with a kill, 37 assists, 3 aces, and 2 digs.
Watts' Word: "We played hard. We played with a lot of energy and great effort this evening. Our communication was good and they worked hard in front of a good crowd. This game easily could have gone either way, but credit Lorain as they continued to play strong defense and well in general. If we can continue this type of effort, we're going to be in every match; we'll work on a few things and come out ready to play again on Wednesday."
Next Up: On Wednesday (10/2), the Lakers will play host to Kent State Tuscarawas in a 6pm matchup at Laker Gym.
