The Lakeland volleyball team played host to the Tri-C Triceratops tonight in Laker Gym and came away with a 3-1 victory. The scores of the game were 25-15, 25-22, 21-25, and 25-22. The Lakers came out clicking on all cylinders in game 1. They passed, hit, and served well as they dominated the Tops early on. Lakeland's size and jumping ability at the net allowed them to control much of the play throughout the match. Game 2 had a completely different feel as the two teams battled back and forth throughout. Tri-C took advantage of Lakeland errors early to jump out to a 9-5 lead. The Lakers then closed the gap as Arion Brown and Kaitlynn Minarik hit kills around a Tri-C error to close the gap to 8-9. The two teams would continue to play hard and the score was 16 all before the Lakers started to pull away.  Lakeland's front wall would set strong blocks forcing Tri-C to adjust their hits and make unforced errors. Couple that with another Brown and Erica Merth kill, and the Lakers pulled out the hard-fought win. Game 3 was a tail of runs. Cuyahoga took advantage of some Laker lapses to jump out to a 20-13 lead. Lakeland would answer as Erica Merth would strike a kill shot. Kaitlynn Minarik then hit a devasting shot from the back row to earn another point. Merth would then help the Lakers score 2 more points on consecutive blocks. On the next play, the Lakers set another strong block forcing a Cuyahoga error and suddenly the Lakers were back in it trailing 17-20. Unfortunately, they were unable to sustain that run as the teams essentially traded points the rest of the way. Game 4 started off as another back-and-forth affair as the teams traded shots. With the score at 7-9 in favor of Tri-C, they would go on a little run to take a 19-12 lead over the Lakers. Lakeland then dug deep and made a ferocious comeback. The first point for the Lakers came when Tri-c served out of play. Erica Merth would then push the ball from the front of the net to the sideline for an unreturnable ball. The Lakers would again set high strong blocks and Tri-C would make 3 unforced errors to pull the Lakers within 2 at 17-19. Lakeland would then serve long to make the score 17-20 in favor of Tri-C. Merth would then have another strong block at the net for a Laker point. On the next play, Tri-C was called for a lift as they tried to get over the Lakeland blockers. Trailing 19-20, Tri-C hit a hard shot deep that Jordan Morman controlled unbelievably with a great pass. Astianna Coppes then made a perfect set to Kaitlynn Minarik who killed it to knot the score at 20. The Lakers would again pressure Tri-C with great defense to cause another error enabling Lakeland to take the lead at 21-20. Lakeland would then committ and error to tie the game at 21. On the next play, Coppes made another nice set as Merth ripped a kill for a 22-21 Laker lead. The teams would then trade mistakes on serves to give the Lakers a 23-22 advantage with the serve. On the next play, Lakeland again defended at the net well and Tri-C hit the ball wide trying to adjust giving the Lakers a 24-22 lead. The game would fittingly end on the next play as the Lakers had great blocking set up at the net to force Cuyahoga into a hitting error to close out the match.

Erica Merth was the player of the game as she finished with 12 kills, 7 digs, 6 blocks, and 6 aces. Arion Brown had a strong night recording 10 kills, 10 digs, and 3 blocks while Kaitlynn Minarik had 8 kills and 18 digs. Jordan Morman had a nice all-around game finishing with 5 kills, 5 blocks, 7 digs, and an ace while Astianna Coppes had a hard-working 29 assists to go with her 9 digs, 2 blocks, and 2 kills. Lindsey Fergus finished her night with 11 receptions, 12 digs, and an ace while Avrie Shenkel recorded 3 kills and 6 digs in the Lakers win.  

Watts' Word: "We really had some great chemistry tonight. We remained positive even when we were down a bit - just kept our heads up and we were able to make a nice come back. Overall, it was really a great team effort."

Next Up: The Lakers will travel to Cuyahoga CC - Eastern Campus on Friday for a rematch with the Triceratops. The game is scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm.