The Lakeland volleyball team played the Kalamazoo Valley Cougars today in Great Lakes District A play and dropped a hard fought 3-0 decision (30-28, 27-25, 25-18) to the Cougars. This was an instant classic as both teams battled for every point for the entire match. The Lakers were sitting on set point in each of the first two sets, but were unable to close the door on KVCC. In set 1 alone, there were 14 ties as neither team was able to take control. The set was marked with great rallies as Zoe Babnik, Isabella Schulz, and Gianna Biondolillo made great defensive plays throughout. Sydney Park, Taylor Williams-Stevens, and Alyssa Lino were dominating at times as they controlled the net while Abby Karasek was strong with both nice defensive plays as well as some key kills while Samantha Winter ran the floor setting, while also making some great defensive plays, and a few push kills. Trailing 19-15 the Lakers battled back. Taylor Williams-Stevens blocked the Cougars middle hitter for a point before following it up with a kill on the next play to bring the Lakers within 2 at 19-17. The Lakers then had an error on their serve to put them behind 20-17. The next play had a long rally before Abby Karasek struck a kill down the sideline. Lakeland's Williams-Stevens and Isabella Schulz had a successful combo block to keep a ball alive and eventually forcing the Cougars into an error to make the score 20-19. After a sideout by the Cougars, Taylor Williams-Stevens would connect on another crushing kill that bounced off the blockers and well out of play. The two teams would then have a long rally before the Cougars blinked first and hit it wide tying the score at 21. On the next play, Sydney Park would rip a kill to the middle of the defense for a 22-21 Laker lead. The Cougars would answer with a tipped kill and then take a lead on another tip kill after a couple of restarts. On the next play, there was another long rally. This time Zoe Babnik made an outstanding dig on what looked like a kill. She picked it clean though and passed it right to Samantha Winter. Instead of a set, Winter pushed it over to a soft spot in the defense and the Lakers tied it at 23. The Lakers and Cougars would then commit a couple of errors and the Cougars would take a 25-24 lead. On the next play, it was Isabella Schulz' turn as she made a one-handed diving dig that led to a Winter set and Sydney Park kill to tie it at 25. Winter would then serve an ace for a 26-25 Laker lead. The Cougars responded with 2 points to take a 27-26 lead before Sydney Park hit a tip kill to tie it at 27. On the next play, there was another rally and then a whistle which would either be a Laker touching the net or a kill off of a Cougar hand. After a very lengthy video review, the call went in favor of the Cougars as they took a 28-27 lead. The Lakers Taylor Williams-Stevens answered immediately with another kill splitting the defense to tie it at 28. The Cougars would then answer with a kill and then a tip kill to take set one.

Set 2 was the same type of match as there were 20 ties in this set. Both teams made nice defensive plays and both teams continued to hit kills throughout. Sydney Park, Alyssa Lino, Isabella Schulz, and Taylor Williams-Stevens all hit kills early in the match to tie the score on different occassions.  Tied at 22 later in the match, Williams-Stevens served an ace for a 23-22 Laker lead. After a Cougar kill, both teams would serve long to knot the score at 24. On the next play, Alyssa Lino tipped a ball for a kill that put the Lakers up 25-24. On the next play, the Lakers would hit the ball just long as they went for the win. The teams would then have another long rally before the Cougars successfully blocked a kill attempt by Lakeland to take a 26-25 lead. The teams would go at it again with another rally that ended with the Cougars striking a kill into a block that fell just out of bounds giving the Cougars the win.

After two long sets where both teams fought for every point, one might think there'd be a let down by a team in the 3rd set. That was not the case as the teams again traded blows throughout the entire match.  Lakeland would jump to a 4-1 lead on the strength of a Sydney Park kill and a Samantha Winter push kill. The Lakers would committ a couple of errors allowing the Cougars to tie the score at 6. The teams would trade points for the next several plays and tie the score at 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14.The Cougars would then go on a little roll and take an 18-14 lead until Lakeland battled back. Sydney Park, Isabella Schulz, and Taylor Williams-Stevens would hit kills on consecutive playes to bring the Lakers within 1 at 18-17. Both teams would take advantage of errors to make the score 19-18 before the Cougars hit a kill to go up 20-18. From there, the Cougars would serve it out as they rolled with some aces to close out the match.

Coach Watts' Word:  "This was a tremendous match. Both teams played so hard and it could have gone either way, I'm extremenly proud of the effort we gave - oustanding volleyball game. Give credit to Kalamazoo as they really battled too. It was just an outstanding match to be a part of and we look forward to another opportunity tomorrow."

Next Up: The Lakers will continue with District play as they face the Kellogg Bruins at 11:00 on Court 2.