Lady Cats put away rival Paola for road win

By Andy Brown
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Updated: September 28, 2017

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg’s Haley Cain (left) and Anna Dixon team up for a block Tuesday during the Lady Cats’ league dual with Paola at Paola High School. Louisburg improved its record to 21-6 with a 3-1 win.

PAOLA – Focus and energy wasn’t a problem for the Louisburg High School volleyball team Tuesday as rival Paola had its full attention.

The Lady Cats, the No. 2 ranked team in Class 4A-Division 1, traveled to Paola for a Frontier League dual and they put all that energy to good use as they jumped out to a quick 25-17 win in the first set. Although that focus might have gone away a little after falling in the second set 21-25, Louisburg responded with a convincing 25-12 and 25-15 victory in the final two sets to win the match, 3-1.

“They were pumped,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “It is always a good rivalry between Louisburg and Paola every time we play. The girls were excited and ready for the match. I think in that second set our energy level went down a little bit because we used a lot of that adrenaline early on and we made a few more mistakes. But overall I thought we played well.”

Paola didn’t have much of an answer for Louisburg’s Anna Dixon as she caused havoc at the net for the Panthers. Dixon, a 6-foot-2 junior, put away a team-high 20 kills to lead the Lady Cats.

Sophomore Haley Cain also had a big night with 10 kills and senior Sophie McMullen added nine in the win.

A lot of those kills were thanks to junior setter Carson Buffington as she tallied 36 assists on the evening.

“Anna swung well on the outside and she and Carson are really starting to connect,” Compliment said. “Carson is starting to connect well the hitters across the board, and with that happening, she is starting to get more confidence. Anna, and others like Sophie and Haley, really had some nice hits.”

Louisburg (21-6) also did some damage from behind the service line as the Lady Cats recorded 15 aces in the four sets. McMullen and Cain both led Louisburg with four aces, while Buffington, Dixon and libero Riley Kallevig each added two.

“The girls served really well and were a lot more aggressive,” Compliment said. “Carson and Riley both stepped up and served well and did well on their spot serves.”

Senior Mikayla Quinn goes up for a kill Tuesday against Paola.

Defensively, McMullen was busy as she recorded 21 digs on the night and Dixon finished with 11 from her all-around spot. Kallevig added nine digs in the victory.

The Lady Cats got off to a good start as they ended the first set on a 12-3 run to go up 1-0 and then staked themselves a 16-13 lead in the second before Paola stormed back and went on a 12-5 run of its own to tie the match.

In a pivotal third set, Louisburg made sure the match wasn’t going to be in doubt. The Lady Cats took leads of 10-3 and 20-8 to win the third set easily and did much of the same in the fourth.

“One of the thing we have been working on is just finishing things and coming out with an attitude of going after every point,” Compliment said. “I thought the girls did a good job of that, especially after the second set.”