The Lakers volleyball team traveled to Owens Community College today to play in the Sonny Lewis Tournamnet and dropped a pair of matches. Both games finished 0-3 as the Lakers fell to Southwestern Michigan and then the College of Dupage. Against SW Michigan, the score of all 3 games was 25-17. The Lakers were immediately faced with a quicker and stronger team then they have played to date which forced them to pick up their level of play. The Lakers did adjust and improved as the match wore on, but in the end, they were unable to overcome the Roadrunners.
Game 2 presented itself with another stiff challenge as the Lakers squared off against the College of Dupage, currently ranked 2nd in the country in DIII for the NJCAA. In this match, the serve is what let the Lakers down. Lakeland started strong with good net play and solid defense, but the usually reliable serve disappeared and it put the Lakers in a difficult spot to compete.
Againsty SW Michigan, Alyssa Lino led the way with 4 kills and 5 blocks. Sydney Park also had a strong game with 5 kills and 5 digs while Zoe Babnik (30 digs) and Abby Karasek (27 digs and 3 kills) led the way defensively. Samantha Winter finished the game with 3 kills and 4 digs while Taylor Williams-Stevens recorded 3 kills and 3 blocks. Ashlen Horowski also added 10 digs for the Lakers.
Against the College of Dupage, Sydney Park laed the way with 15 kills and 11 digs. Abby Karasek had a team high 27 digs while Zoe Babnik finished with 17 digs. Gianna Biondolillo recorded 15 digs while Alyssa Lino finished with a team high 8 blocks.
Coach Watts' Word: "Against SW Michigan, we had a solid team effort overall. It was a balanced attack, but we were just not able to get over the hump. Against Dupage, we again were given a stiff challenge. They are a very good team. We gained confidence and improved as the match wore on. Alyssa (Lino) really stepped up and played well at the net and Zoe (Babnik) had several tremendous digs that allowed us to set set up and score. We'll take this, learn from it, and come out ready to go tomorrow."
Player of the Day: Alyssa Lino
Next Up: On Saturday (8/30), the Lakers will play Hagerstown CC at 9 am before playing the Skippers of St. Clair County at 2:15 pm.