Lady Cats face three state-ranked teams in up and down week

By Andy Brown
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Updated: September 17, 2019

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg junior Carleigh Pritchard and senior Liz Jacobs team up for a block Saturday during the Lansing Invitational.

It was an up and down week for the Louisburg volleyball team last week – one with started with two wins and ended with losses to three state-ranked teams.

During the Lansing Invitational on Saturday, the Lady Cats finished with a 1-3 record in a tournament that featured some of the state’s best teams.

Louisburg opened tournament play with a 25-23 and 25-9 victory over Shawnee Mission North behind five kills each from seniors Liz Jacobs and Haley Cain and senior Riley Kallevig added four.

The Lady Cats (5-5) also shined from behind the service line as they recorded 10 aces in the match, including five from sophomore Rinny McMullen and two from sophomore Davis Guetterman. McMullen also handed out 12 assists to lead the Lady Cats.

The schedule got much more difficult for Louisburg as they lost a pair of 2-0 matches to No. 6 Spring Hill and No. 3 Lansing, who are both ranked in Class 5A. The tournament ended with a 2-1 loss to Olathe West.

Louisburg was also a little short-handed as senior hitter Erin Lemke had to sit out with an injury

“Even though we went 1-3 on the day at Lansing, there were some bright moments throughout the day,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “We struggled to find ‘our game’ and played that way all day. The Lansing tournament is loaded with great teams, and has always been one of our toughest tournaments we play in. We stayed with most of the teams throughout the day, but once it got to 15-14 or 16-14, they took off and finished, and we struggled to ‘play to win.’

“We became hesitant and played it safe rather than fighting back and playing to win. There were many instances throughout the tournament we were playing some great volleyball. Our back row had some great saves and our offense clicked well. As I told the team, we need to work on finding that drive, that motivation, that energy, and carry it throughout every set and every match.”

**Sophomore Davis Guetterman sets up a teammate Saturday at the Lansing Invitational.**

On Thursday, the Lady Cats hosted another state-ranked team in their home opener when they faced off with No. 5 Bonner Springs. Louisburg came up short in a 25-23, 25-19, 22-25 and 25-18 loss to the Braves.

It was a competitive match throughout, but the Braves were able to make several runs late in each set to pull away.

Cain led the attack at the net with 12 kills, Jacobs finished with nine and junior Alyse Moore added eight in the loss. McMullen and Guetterman ran the offense well with 22 and 19 assists, respectively, and Guetterman also added two aces.

Defensively, Kallevig paced the Lady Cats with 18 digs on the night and senior Reilly Ratliff-Becher finished with 13. Lemke and junior Carleigh Pritchard had two blocks each.

**Senior libero Reilly Ratliff-Becher digs up a ball Saturday in Lansing.**

At the start of the week, the Lady Cats traveled to Santa Fe Trail for a triangular with Burlington. Louisburg left with a pair of easy wins.

The Lady Cats knocked off Burlington 25-8 and 25-14 and downed Santa Fe Trail 25-10 and 25-14.

“The team played well,” Compliment said. “They weren’t our cleanest matches this season, but our serving was tough, and we moved the ball around well. It was hard for us to maintain our pace throughout the evening, but we were able to get on some long runs where we were very efficient in both the front and back row.”

Everyone got involved in the win against Santa Fe Trail as Kallevig led the way with nine kills, while Lemke and Pritchard each finished with seven. Guetterman had three aces to lead Louisburg and Kallevig finished with two. Guetterman and McMullen also had 12 and 11 assists, respectively.

Defensively, sophomore Chase Kallevig had a team-high nine digs and Ratliff-Becher added seven.

Against Burlington, Pritchard had a team-high four kills in the match, but it was the serving that was the story of the match.

Louisburg tallied 11 aces against Burlington, including five from Guetterman and three from McMullen. The two sophomores also combined for 13 assists.