Commodores Defend Home Court against Hawks of Hocking College

September 28, 2016 - - The Lady Commodores took no chances Wednesday evening against Hocking College as they defeated the Hawks in 4 sets. Unlike their first match back on August 31st where LCCC swept the Hawks, the Lady Commodores won in 4 by the final scores of 25-17, 21-25, 25-19, and 25-17. LCCC sits at 10-7 overall and 1-4 in the conference.

It was clear LCCC wanted to end the first set early as they jumped out to an early 10-2 lead. Outside of the Hawks errors, the Lady Commodores were smothering on the net and didn't allow many balls to go untouched.  As things seemed to be all LCCC, the Hawks made a big run midway through that seemed to frustrate the Lady Commodores. With the score 19-14, Maryssa Kellick stepped up to serve and helped extend the lead to 23-14. Even with what appeared to be a hand injury on Kellick, LCCC pounced on the Hawks during their late run. Kara Keim, who led LCCC with 16 kills on the night, was a huge contributor and helped the team finish the Hawks off by a final score of 25-17.  

Unfortunately this didn't continue in the second set as the team trailed early, going down 7-8. The team chemistry seemed to be missing as errors and lack of energy doomed the Lady Commodores. Going to his bench, Coach Whitsel found strong minutes out of Stacy Labis and McKenzie Zauner. Although LCCC was able to take the lead at 15-14, the much more energized Hawks took advantage of the set to win 25-21. After the game, Stacy Labis of LCCC knew they let the second set slip away. "We had to come together as a team; we really struggled in the second set. We had to pick each other up and once we did that, the intensity picked back up."

Just as the third set appeared to be a repeat of the second set, LCCC caught fire midway through and made the necessary separation. The Hawks, who seemed to find their groove as the game continued, tried to make the Lady Commodores uncomfortable but the new found hustle of LCCC didn't allow it. McKenzie Zauner's team high 16 digs would be vital in the teams late run as they managed to pull away with a 25-19 win.

To end the game, the Lady Commodores finished exactly how they started as they controlled set 4 early. Going up as much as 17-7, LCCC seemed to limit the errors that filled sets 2 and 3. Leading in team assists with 39, Shannon Reaser and company played great team ball and finish the Hawks off 25-17.

Happy but not satisfied with the win was Labis who knew how important tonight was in preparation for a long upcoming weekend. "We didn't play as well as we should have and with a tough weekend coming up, it was important we played well late. We did that and we'll just take that momentum with us this weekend."

The Commodores will get just one day of rest before playing Edison Friday at home and then the Grand Rapids Tournament October 1-2. 
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