Lady Cats overcome adversity, win three straight

By Andy Brown
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Updated: September 20, 2016

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg sophomore Anna Dixon tips the ball past two De Soto blockers on Sept. 13 at De Soto High School. On Thursday, the Lady Cats went 3-0 in a triangular in Osawatomie.

OSAWATOMIE – Coming off a tough Frontier League loss can be difficult enough to overcome by itself, but the Louisburg High School volleyball had to rebound without one of their leaders.

Following a loss to De Soto earlier in the week, the Lady Cats ventured to Osawatomie for a quadrangular with Fort Scott and Prairie View and they had to do it without junior Sophie McMullen, who was out with an injury. In her absence, the rest of the Louisburg team banded together to leave with three victories.

Louisburg didn’t lose a set as they defeated all three teams 2-0 and improved its record to 13-7 on the season.

Without McMullen, the Lady Cats leaned on several players in her absence and they came through. Senior Ellie Katzer took McMullen’s spot in the rotation and played all-around, while sophomore Anna Dixon was looked to do more offensively.

Senior Tayler Lancaster also filled in for Katzer’s spot in the back row and gave Louisburg some quality time on the floor.

“Sophie took about 75 percent of the swings when she was front row and without her the other players needed to step up,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “I thought that those players did a good job of taking on more responsibility. Ellie did a great job stepping in and playing all the way around for us. She made some very smart plays and kept the ball in play.

“We still have some growing to do as a team and as individuals, but I thought that by the end of the night that the team was playing well together. Our schedule slows down a little next week so we’ll have more time to focus on the new rotation and adjusting to playing without Sophie.”

Louisburg opened play against Prairie View, and despite a few bumps early, the Lady Cats rolled to a 25-20 and 25-16 win. Dixon led the offensive attack with 13 kills to lead Louisburg and Katzer finished with five.

Katzer and junior Mikayla Quinn were strong from behind the service line with four aces each. Senior Olivia Bradley led Louisburg’s defense with a team-high 10 blocks, while freshman libero Riley Kallevig had seven digs.

Sophomore Carson Buffington, who is now the team’s lone setter in McMullen’s absence, had a big game with 19 assists.

“Our first match against Prairie View was a little rough,” Compliment said. “It took us awhile to get comfortable in the new rotation. We finally settled down a little during the Osawatomie and Fort Scott matches, and we started to find some rhythm with the changes.”

Next up was Osawatomie and it was much of the same for Louisburg as it breezed to a 25-15 and 25-10 victory behind nine kills and five blocks from Dixon and five kills from Katzer. Kallevig served well for the Lady Cats as she had seven aces and Buffington had a team-high 18 assists.

Dixon again led the Lady Cats offensively against Fort Scott with 12 kills and had six blocks to help Louisburg to a 25-18 and 25-15 win over Fort Scott.

Freshman Haley Cain and Buffington each had four kills in the win, while Quinn and Kallevig had six of the team’s 10 aces with three each. Buffington also had 17 assists.

Louisburg will try and keep its winning ways going today when it hosts Baldwin in a league matchup. Varsity is set to begin at approximately 6:30 p.m.

Lady Cats suffer league loss at De Soto

Going into the season, De Soto and Louisburg were considered as the Frontier League’s top two teams, but De Soto took the first victory of the season between the two in the league’s preseason tournament in August.

On Sept. 13, the two teams met again and was a vital match on who would take a firm hold on first place in the Frontier League. Although Louisburg got off to a good start in the first set and took an early lead, the Lady Cats couldn’t hang on in a 26-24, 25-16 and 25-21 loss.

Louisburg’s Olivia Bradley (left) and Sophie McMullen team up for a block on Sept. 13 at De Soto.

“We knew going in to the match against De Soto that it would be tough,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “They played us tough last year and returned almost their entire team. We managed to get a good lead in the first set. Had we won that set I think the outcome may have been different. After losing the first set, we lost some confidence and started playing tight. We had our chances in the third set, but couldn’t convert when we needed to and couldn’t pull out a win.”

Sophomore Anna Dixon had a big day at the net with a team-high 14 kills. Sophomore Carson Buffington recorded 16 assists running the Lady Cat offense.

Dixon tied senior Olivia Bradley with a team-high five blocks. Bradley also had three aces, while freshman libero Riley Kallevig had two. Dixon also played well defensively with 10 digs and senior Ellie Katzer added seven.

For a photo gallery from the match, make sure to click here.

Louisburg finishes fifth at Lansing

Louisburg watched as just a few points separated it from being in the championship or consolation bracket on Sept. 10 at the Lansing Invitational.

During pool play, the Lady Cats found themselves in a pair of close matches with Shawnee Mission West and Lansing, but in the end Louisburg up short and finished with a 2-2 record in the pool.

Louisburg moved to the consolation bracket, but the Lady Cats didn’t let the disappointment earlier in the day get them down as they responded with a pair of straight set victories over Piper and Topeka Seaman to finish fifth overall.

“The Lansing tournament is always a tough tournament,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “We had a few close matches with Shawnee Mission West and Lansing but couldn’t pull out the win. Hopefully those close matches will provide the team with some confidence going in to the rest of the season. We see a lot of quality 5A and 6A teams throughout the season. Hopefully the team takes away some positives from the losses and that will help us later in the season.”

The Lady Cats opened the tournament with a 25-12 and 25-18 victory over Spring Hill behind 15 kills from sophomore Anna Dixon. Junior Sophie McMullen and Dixon also added a pair of aces each.

Next up was Shawnee Mission West and after a tough 25-19 loss in the first set, the Lady Cats took West to the limit before falling 30-28. Dixon had a team-high 12 kills and McMullen added eight. McMullen also finished with three aces.

Senior Olivia Bradley had a team-high nine blocks, while sophomore Carson Buffington and freshman Haley Cain had six and five, respectively.

Louisburg downed Shawnee Mission North 25-15 and 25-15 to get back on track. Buffington had five aces in the win and also got six digs each from freshman libero Riley Kallevig and senior Tayler Lancaster. Dixon and McMullen had eight and six kills, respectively.

The host team Lansing dashed any hopes of Louisburg earning a spot in the championship bracket with as it defeated the Lady Cats 25-18 and 28-26. The Lady Cats held a 16-10 lead in the second set before Lansing rallied

Dixon had a team-high 13 kills in the loss and Bradley had seven blocks. Buffington had 16 assists and also had a team-high 12 digs.

Louisburg didn’t have any problem against Piper as it rolled to a 25-13 and 25-22 to start the consolation bracket. Dixon had eight kills and three aces in the win, while McMullen had seven kills. Freshman Haley Cain had a big game defensively with nine blocks.

In the fifth-place match, Louisburg dispatched Topeka Seaman 25-14 and 25-23 to end the day on a positive note. Dixon and McMullen had 11 and 10 kills, respectively.

Kallevig had a team-high 12 digs and McMullen finished with nine. McMullen also had a team-high four blocks.