Lady Bears split in opening volleyball triangular
BATTLE CREEK — The Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Lady Bears volleyball team split a triangular here with a 2-0 set win over West Point-Beemer and a 2-0 set loss to the hosts on Aug. 24.
The Lady Bears opened the season with a 25-21, 25-19 loss to Battle Creek but responded with a 25-21, 25-16 win over the Lady Cadets to improve to 1-1 on the young season.
Against the Lady Cadets, Rena Rasmussen led the Lady Bear offensive attack with nine kills in the match, Tali Erwin tacked on six.
“We really came out ready to play against West Point-Beemer, we are just getting more comfortable with each other every practice and every game,” LCC coach Julie Kvols said. “Our passing and ball control was on point, which led to a strong attack.”
Bailey Graf had 14 digs in the match, Erwin had eight. Carlie Kvols tipped up 20 set assists to get the offense going for the Lady Bears.
“We just played really well and felt like we had such control on our side of the court,” Julie Kvols said. “We also had very strong serving which kept West Point-Beemer out of system the entire match.”
Rasmussen had a couple of ace serves in the match, Kvols and Graf each had one.
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge played with Battle Creek in the opening set before falling by the 25-21 score and the Bravette’s front line proved to be too much in the second set as they swept the best-of-three-sets match with the 25-19 score in set two.
“Battle Creek put up a big front row and a very disciplined defense which challenged us,” Kvols said. “Offensively, we attacked well, but maybe played a little safe towards the end of the match.”
Rasmussen and Erwin again paced the attack with nine and six winners respectively, Delaney Johnson added five.
“They served us tough and we had to adjust to playing a little more out of system,” Kvols said. “We battled the entire match with a very solid team.”
The Lady Bears were set for their home opener Aug. 29 when they hosted Ponca in a Lewis & Clark Conference match before heading to Randolph Aug. 31 to take on the Lady Cardinals.
They will head to Walthill for a triangular on Sept. 5 with the Lady Bluejays and Homer.
Laurel-Concord Coleridge 25 25 West Point-Beemer 21 16. LAUREL-CONCORD-COLERIDGE (1-1): Tyler Recob 2k; Tali Erwin 6k, 1b, 8d, 1s, 9sr; Rena Rasmussen 9k, 2a, 6d, 2s; Carlie Kvols 3k, 1a, 4d, 20s; Bailey Graf 1a, 14d, 1s, 4sr; Avery Hahne 5d, 1s, 12sr; Mallory Eriksen 3k, 5d, 1s, 7sr; Lainey Schutte 2d, 3sr; Delaney Johnson 5k, 1b, 1d. Battle Creek 25 25 Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 21 19