The Lakers volleyball team played host to the Lorain County Commodores tonight and came out on the short end of a 3-0 decision. The scores of the sets were 19-25, 19-25, 27-29. After playing the Commodores 10 days ago and dropping a hard fought 5 set decision, the Lakers and their fans came expecting another battle between the two teams. In the first two sets, the two teams did just that before the Commodores went on mini-runs to take the lead and eventually the sets. In set 1, the two teams were within a point of each other until they were tied at 14. The Lakers would then committ a few unforced errors while the Commodores had a couple of kills and suddenly the Lakers trailed 15-20. Lakeland was unable to recover from there. In set 2, Lakeland trailed 9-13 before an Avrie Shenkel kill made the score 10-13. On the next play, Taylor Williams-Stevens and Abby Karasek would do a combo block for a point. After a Lorain sideout and a Laker kill attempt that went just long, Shenkel would block a kill attempt to bring the Lakers within 3 at 12-15. Lakeland would then defend well forcing Lorain to committ an error. Following both teams earning a sideout, Alyssa Lino would collect a block to bring the Lakers within 1 at 15-16. The two teams would then trade points until Lorain collected 3 consecutive points off 2 pushes and a Laker block attempt that landed out of bounds. From there the teams traded points until Lorain took the set. 

Set 3 had a completely different feel. Lakeland came out slow as they made a few unforced errors and trailed 9-1. The Lakers would play with a lot of heart and energy as they battled back in this match. Playing better defense, the Lakers forced Lorain into some errors. Combined with kills from Sydney Park and Abby Karasek, and the Lakers climbed back into the match and trailed 8-11. The Lakers would then make some more errors and fall behind by a score of 14-21. When things looked bleak, Lakeland dug deep. The Lakers continued to play strong defense and battled their way back to respectability trailing 17-23. Lakeland was not done.  Park would hit another kill to make the score 18-23. After a long rally, Lorain would hit a kill to be on the edge of winning leading 24-18. Alyssa Lino then had a huge block for a point. Lino would then serve - and she was outstanding. Her first serve was hit and misplayed by Lorain. Lino's next serve was an ace.  On the next play, Rebecca Ferrell made a great dig before Samantha Winter set Sydney Park for another kill. On the next play, Lakeland would again defend well and this time Winter set Taylor Williams-Stevens for the kill. Park would collect another kill on the next play to tie the score at 24. The two teams would exchange errors for the next few plays to make the score 26-26. After a Lorain kill, Williams-Stevens would respond with a kill to again tie the score at 27. On the next play, Lorain would collect a kill for a 28-27 advantage before earning the win on a ball that went off an attempted block.

Taylor Williams-Stevens led Lakeland with 8 kills and 4 digs while Sydney Park finished with 7 kills and 3 block assists. Alyssa Lino collected 5 kills, 2 aces, and was involved with 7 blocks while Avrie Shenkel added 5 kills and a solo block. Zoe Babnik led the team with 7 digs while Samantha Winter recorded 24 assists, 2 digs, and 2 block assists. Abby Karasek was all over the court recording a kill, a block assist, and a dig while Estella Dotson and Rebecca Ferrell each had a couple of digs. Allison Hedrick also played well for the Lakers defensively and picked up an ace while serving.

Watts' Word: "We didn't have our best two games to start the night. We were a little off and our defense wasn't quite where we needed it to be. However, trailing big early in the 3rd set, we really fought hard. I am so proud of the way they battled back. Instead of rolling over we fought hard and had a good chance to take the set. The consistency in our play is still getting us. Sometimes we allow those mini-runs and it's difficult for us to recover.  Credit Lorain as they played hard; but also a good job by the Lakers in battling to the end. We'll keep working in practice and if we can gain some of that consistency throughout the match, we'll be tough to beat."

Next Up: On Tuesday (10/15), the Lakers travel to Owens Community College to play the Express in a 6:00 pm match.