Commodores Welcome Hocking College to Collegiate Volleyball

August 31, 2016 - - Collegiate volleyball is nothing new to LCCC and neither is winning but on Wednesday the Lady Commodores got the chance to not only welcome Hocking College to the game, but also show them how things work in the D3 Region 12 of the NJCAA. Playing in a packed gym of excited fans, the Commodores swept the Hawks 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-17).

"Tonight was a great event with it being Hockings first ever volleyball match. The gym was packed and it was just fun being there to experience this." said Coach Whitsel after the game.

With obvious nerves and first game jitters in front of their home crowd, the Hawks initially struggled to keep up with the fast tempo of LCCC. Second year player, Maryssa Kellick from Elyria Catholic, took no time to take charge of the set and the entire match. On the evening, Kellick led all players with 14 kills and made sure the gym knew why the Commodores were ranked 7th in the preseason polls. With too much fire power LCCC took the first set 25-12.

Going into the second set, the Hawks of Hocking College seemed to relax a little more and the game become more competitive. The Commodores at times seemed to take their foot off the gas but Coach Whitsel took a moment to settle his team down. After the game, Whitsel briefly explained their mindset early in the season.
"We're trying to continue to improve and work on taking care of the ball. We didn't do that too well against Schoolcraft so we focused on that a lot tonight."

With only four-second year players on the Commodores roster, Whitsel got some big plays out of second year player Ali Stanziano from Midview High School. Leading the game with 26 digs, LCCC was able to get multiple chances at setting up their hitters at the net. With most of the second set close, LCCC pulled away late to win 25-20.

Up 2-0, LCCC didn't let up in the 3rd set as they won 25-17. Shannon Reaser, a freshman from Elyria Catholic, played big for her team as she chipped in 38 assist on the evening; this made things very difficult for the Hawks who struggled to keep up. The Commodores took advantage of Hocking's inexperience and finished the game in a sweep.
Box Score