The Lakeland volleyball team played host to the Clark State Eagles today in their final regular season match. It was also Sophomore Day for the Lakers and they came away with a convincing 3-0 (25-21, 25-10, 25-20) victory over the Eagles. Though the scores appear relatively close in Set 1 and 3, they were never in doubt, as Lakeland continued to play strong defense and had a dominating front row to earn the win. In set one, Lakeland got off to a bit of a slow start before rallying for the win. The keys were strong net play from Taylor Williams-Stevens, Sydney Park, Alyssa Lino, and Isabella Schulz and great defense and digs from Zoe Babnik and Gianna Biondolillo. Abby Karasek and Samantha Winter also played a big part with their overall play. Winter contributed with her help in the front row and setting while Karasek played a strong role both at the net play and with the serve. Set 2 was over very quickly as Lakeland jumped out to an early 13-1 lead and coasted to the win. William-Stevens, Park, and Lino all had multiple kills early while Karasek had a pair of aces to build the early lead. Set 3 was a similar feel as Lakeland jumped out to an early 10-4 lead. Sydney Park, Taylor Williams-Stevens, and Samantha Winter led the way with early kills while Abby Karasek served another ace. Th Eagles would try to fight back and closed the gap to 11-7, but Lakeland answered immediately as Lino and Karasek recorded kills. Williams-Stevens then followed with an ace before Karsek hit another kill to put the Lakers up 15-7. The Eagles again closed the gap a bit and trailed 16-11 before Mikayla Polefko recorded a kill and took the air out of the Eagles. From there, the Lakers cruised to the victory.
The Lakers had 7 different players record a kill in todays match. Taylor Williams-Stevens led the way with 8 kills and 6 blocks while Sydney Park and Alyssa Lino each recorded 5 kills. Abby Karasek finished with 3 kills and 3 aces while also picking up 8 digs. Samantha Winter and Mikayla Polefko each picked up two kills for the Lakers. Winter also added an ace, a couple of digs, and several great sets. Isabella Schulz recorded a kill and a pair of digs while also doing a nice job passing today. Zoe Babnik led the team with 9 digs and 8 service receptions while doing an excellent job keeping the back row working smoothly. Gianna Biondolillo finished the match with 6 digs and an ace while playing a strong overall game.
Players of the Match: All of our Second Year Players - Zoe Babnik, Abby Karasek, Alyssa Lino, Sydney Park, Taylor Williams-Stevens, and Samantha Winter - thank you for everything!!
Coach Watts' Word: "First - thank you to our sophomores - I am so proud of you. There is no doubt they will continue to excel in everything that they do and we look forward to watching them in the future. As for the game, we did what we needed to do - played relaxed, had fun, played good D and well at the net, and continued to do a great job communicating - we just took care of business and I'm so happy for the team. I'm really looking forward to going to Grand Rapids. We have the ability to go up there and do well - looking forward to that challenge."
Next Up: The Lakers have qualified for District play. The team will travel to Grand Rapids Community College and participate in the Region 12 District Volleyball Tournament November 6-8, 2025. More information about the tournament will follow within the next week.
