The Lakeland volleyball team played host to the Cuyahoga Community College Triceratops and fell in a hard fought 3-2 match. This is the 6th time this season that the Lakers have dropped a match 3-2. The scores were 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 25-22, and 9-15. The first four matches had a common theme as Lakeland led in all of them late. Both teams had a high energy effort as they consistently dug balls out on fantastic plays to keep rally's alive. Unfortunately, for the Lakers they had some hard-luck plays go against them at crucial times in some of the games. Game 3 was a particularly difficult ending for the Lakers. Lakeland held a 19-17 lead in the game when the ball took an odd bounce off the hand of a Cuyahoga middle hitter that rolled down the net line for a point - surprising both teams. The next Cuyahoga serve then hit the tape line on their side of the net and rolled over the net and dropped straight to the floor to tie the score at 19. The teams traded points and the score was tied at 21. On the next play, it appeared Lakeland would take the lead on a push by Lakeland's Erica Merth. As the ball fell to the floor for a Lakeland point a lift was called that negated the point and gave Cuyahoga a lead they would not relinquish. 

The Lakers battled back and took game 4 in another tight game. Maisie Burlison, Astianna Coppes, Madison Tatka, and Merth all took turns with key kills in the game. Tatianna Matuz had several great sets to help the Lakers take the advantage. Throughout the game, Lindsey Fergus, Kaitlynn Minarik, and Tory Leck all made key defensive digs and excellent passes to keep the Lakers rolling. The key point in this game happened with the Lakers trailing 20-21. On the next rally, Erica Merth had a huge block in the middle to tie it at 21. On the next rally, the Cuyahoga middle hitter, in an attempt to avoid another Merth block, pushed the ball wide to give the Lakers a 22-21 lead. The next rally ended when Tatianna Matuz set up a crushing Astianna Coppes kill and the Lakers closed it out from there.

In game 5, the Lakers fell behind early, 3-8 on a couple unforced errors. Though they battled back to a 9-11 score, the gap was just too large to overcome.

Maisie Burlison and Erica Merth led the Lakers with 11 kills each. Merth also added 7 blocks and 4 aces while Burlison added 6 blocks. Astianna Coppes finished her night with 9 kills. Madison Tatka chipped in with 5 kills for the Lakers. Tatianna Matuz finished the match with 31 assists. 

Coach Miozzi commented after the game, "We're there - we just have to find a way to close our opponents out - we have to get over the hump.  We made a lot of very good defensive plays and our passing, in general, was good. Still - mistakes at crucial times cost us. I thought our middle hitters played extremely well tonight. We have to get over his quickly as we're back at it tomorrow."

Next Up:  The Lakers travel to Jamestown Community College on Thursday to face the Falcons in a 6:00 pm match.