The Lakeland volleyball team played host to the Kent State Tuscarawas Golden Eagles today in non-league action. It was a difficult evening for the Lakers as they struggled to get their game going early and eventually they fell by a score of 3-1 (8-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-25).  Trailing 2-0, Lakeland battled and put together their best set of the evening. The two teams went back and forth throughout the game and the Lakers found themselves at a 14-16 deficit. Taylor Williams-Stevens then had a great solo block for a Laker point to make it 15-16. The two teams would then exchange errors and the Golden Eagles would hit a kill to take an 18-16 lead. Williams-Stevens followed with a kill to make the score 18-17. After Lakeland went for a block that fell out of play for a KSU point, Avrie Shenkel hit a kill to bring the Lakers within 1 at 18-19. The Lakers would again try to block and it would drop out of play for a KSU point before Alyssa Lino had a block that the Golden Eagles could not recover from keeping the Lakers down 1 point at 19-20. Estella Dotson then served an ace to tie the game at 20. Lakeland was called for touching the net on the next play and then Sydney Park hit a kill to tie the score at 21. Alyssa Lino would then strike a serve that KSA could not return and the Lakers took the lead at 22-21. On the ensuing play, Park hit another kill to make the score 23-21. On the next play, there was a long rally as both teams played good defense. Taylor Williams-Stevens then ended the rally with a kill putting the Lakers on the edge of a win. That win didn't take long as Samantha Winter set up Sydney Park for the game winning kill.  

Unfortunately for the Lakers, they would fall behind early in game 4 and when it looked like they would star to make a run, the Golden Eagles answered to close out the match.

Sydney Park led the way with 12 kills and 12 digs. Taylor Williams-Stevens finished her evening with 8 kills, a dig, and a solo block while Alyssa Lino added 6 kills, 2 digs, and 3 solo blocks. Estella Dotson finished with 2 kills, an ace, and 12 digs while Samantha Winter added 31 assists and 8 digs. Zoe Babnik picked up 10 digs and Rebecca Ferrell added 9 digs for the Lakers. Avrie Shenkel picked up 3 kills while Allison Hedrick added 3 digs. Abby Karasek finished with a dig and a block assist in the Laker loss.

Players of the Game: Estella Dotson as she worked both the front and back row well.

Taylor Williams-Stevens and Alyssa Lino - both played extremely well at the net and had great blocks, strong defense, and some important kills.

Watts' Word: "That was a tough match for us as we struggled a bit early on with our communication and general play. We did keep battling and were able to take that 3rd set. We have the pieces - we need to stay positive and keep working together as a team. We'll get back at it over the next couple of days, reset ourselves, and come out ready for what should be a good match on Saturday."

Next Up: On Saturday (10/5), the Lakers will travel to Clark State to take on the Eagles. Game time is scheduled for 11:00 am.