Lady Cats cruise on senior night

By Andy Brown
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: October 14, 2016

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Senior Olivia Bradley rises up for a kill during Tuesday’s senior night match against Eudora at Louisburg High School as the Lady Cats recorded a 3-0 win. Bradley, Ellie Katzer and Tayler Lancaster were all honored before the contest.

Olivia Bradley, Ellie Katzer and Tayler Lancaster walked out onto the Louisburg High School court Tuesday for their final regular season home game.

After it was over, all three Lady Cat seniors walked off the court winners. Louisburg earned the sweep over Eudora with a 25-20, 25-22 and 25-17 victory as Bradley, Katzer and Lancaster were sent out in style.

“For those three seniors, it is a special night for them, especially to get a win and clean sweep against Eudora is always nice,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “It is a good feeling for them.

“With Ellie and Olivia being here all four years, they have put in a lot of time and effort. Both of them have stepped up this year and have been leaders. Also to have Tayler come in this year has been great as well. Just one year in the program, she has fit right into the program and the players. She has given us another good defensive player when we have needed it.”

All three players made an impact in the match. Bradley did it at the net as she finished with six kills and an ace in the victory.

Louisburg seniors (from left) Tayler Lancaster, Ellie Katzer and Olivia Bradley were all honored before Tuesday’s senior night match with Eudora.

“It has been a crazy ride, from having team-bonding sleepovers to going to state two years in a row for me is an incredible feeling,” Bradley said. “It is weird to think this is my last league home game. We played a lot better than we have the last couple weeks. We came together and played from our old rotation. It was great to have a couple kills on my last match.”

Katzer and Lancaster contributed in the back row as Katzer had 10 digs to go along with an ace. Lancaster served the final two points of the third set to help secure the win for the Lady Cats.

“It has been a lot fun,” Katzer said. “I really like all the girls and working with them has been great. I have improved so much because of the upperclassmen before me and this year I get to be the leader and help everyone on the court and that has been fun.

“It was pretty awesome and we had a great student section out there supporting us. All the girls worked hard and played pretty well. We were kind of quiet in the second set, but we picked it up after that.”

Senior Ellie Katzer gets ready to dig a ball up Tuesday.

Louisburg (19-12) got off to a strong start against the Cardinals as it jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the second set behind kills from Anna Dixon, Carson Buffington and an ace from Sophie McMullen.

Eudora rallied to tie the set at 7-all, but Dixon recorded three straight kills to help put Louisburg up 15-10 and the Lady Cats never looked back.

The Cardinals presented a bigger challenge in the second set as they took an 18-15 lead, but kills from Dixon, McMullen and Haley Cain during a 6-1 run gave the Lady Cats a 21-19 advantage and were able to hold on.

Louisburg got off to another quick start in the third set as it took a 7-3 lead on an ace and kill from McMullen, and kills from Dixon and Bradley. It was a lead it wouldn’t relinquish as it cruised to the 3-set win.

“We played alright for the most part,” Compliment said. “We still had a few errors here and there that we need to get fixed, but for the most part not bad. We stepped up and did what we needed to do when we needed to get the points.”

Dixon led the Lady Cats’ attack with 15 kills and two aces, while McMullen finished with 12 kills and two aces. Freshman Riley Kallevig led the Louisburg defense with 15 digs and McMullen had 10, along with Katzer.

Senior Tayler Lancaster serves the ball up during the third set Tuesday against Eudora.

Buffington racked up a team-high 26 assists from the setter spot and McMullen added seven.

“They did a good job moving the offense and talking to their hitters,” Compliment said of her setters. “I think we jelled a little bit more than we have in the past, which is good to see.”

Louisburg returns to action Saturday for the Emporia Invitational and then will play its final regular season match this Tuesday in Ottawa.

Lady Cats fall to Olathe North

The Louisburg High School volleyball team had a chance to exact some revenge Thursday when it traveled to Olathe North.

The Lady Cats fell to Olathe North in their home tournament in September and hoped for a little payback. Although Louisburg played well at times, the Lady Cats fell in five sets 29-27, 22-25, 25-12, 18-25 and 15-8.

“The team played really well for three of the five sets,” coach Jessica Compliment said. “As a team, we did a good job on defense. Our defense seemed to flow better last night than it had been all season. We lost our focus during the third set and at the beginning of the fifth. We created a big hole, and we weren’t able to dig ourselves out.

“We made quite a few mental mistakes, and Olathe North took advantage of those moments. It was a good learning opportunity for the team.”

Sophomore Anna Dixon had a big day at the net with 17 kills and five blocks. Junior Sophie McMullen was right behind her with 14 kills and had a team-high six aces.

Senior Olivia Bradley finished with seven kills and a team-high six blocks and freshman Haley Cain had six kills.

Dixon also had a team-high 33 digs on defense and freshman Riley Kallevig was right behind her with 31. Setter Carson Buffington finished with 34 assists and also had 20 digs.