Lady Cats finish third at Ottawa Invitational

Louisburg senior Liz Jacobs goes up for a kill during the Lady Cats’ match against Olathe West on Saturday at the Ottawa Invitational.

It was another busy week for the Louisburg volleyball team as the Lady Cats played two league duals and a tournament in a five-day period.

Louisburg ventured to the Ottawa Invitational on Saturday and played in five matches during the round-robin tournament. The Lady Cats finished third overall with a 3-2 record, with their only two losses coming against state-ranked teams.

The Lady Cats got wins against Ottawa (2-0), Olathe West (2-1) and Highland Park (2-0), before falling to Bishop Miege (2-0) and Basehor-Linwood (2-1).

“We had a good day at Ottawa,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “The team stepped up and played well together I thought all day. We didn’t come out and play our best versus Miege. We had a bit of a mental block and didn’t put our best effort into that match. Outside of the Miege match, we played really well.”

Ottawa was the first opponent for Louisburg and the Lady Cats took care of business with a 25-17 and 25-21 win. They faced a tough challenge in their next match when they had to go three sets against Olathe West.

The two teams had split earlier in the year, but Louisburg came out strong with a 25-20 win in the first set. Olathe West countered with a 25-21 victory in the second and were one point away from winning the match in the third set.

Olathe West had a 24-20 lead in the third set, but the Lady Cats responded to go on a 6-0 run as sophomore Davis Guetterman served the last six points, including an ace, to help Louisburg get a big win.

The momentum was short-lived, however, as the Lady Cats had a tough time keeping up with Bishop Miege in the next match as they fell 25-19 and 25-15. Miege, the No. 4 ranked team in Class 4A, took a 14-4 lead in the first set and never looked back.

Louisburg quickly put that loss behind them as it matched up with Basehor-Linwood, the No. 10-ranked team in Class 5A. The Lady Cats lost the first set 25-19, but rallied to win the second 25-18.

The Lady Cats continued to play hard into the third set, before falling 27-25. It was the second loss to the Bobcats this season.

“It was good to beat Olathe West again because they beat us at Lansing,” Compliment said. “We are 2-1 now versus them. The Basehor match was a well-played match. The third set was a close one, and I thought the team played and fought hard until the last whistle.

Junior Alyse Moore had a busy match at the net as she recorded a team-high 10 kills and also had three blocks. Seniors Liz Jacobs and Erin Lemke each had seven kills, while senior Haley Cain had six kills and a team-high four blocks.

Louisburg served strong as it recorded six aces, including a pair each from sophomores Rinny McMullen and Chase Kallevig, and junior Carleigh Pritchard.

Defensively, the Lady Cats also played well as seniors Reilly Ratliff-Becher and Riley Kallevig led the team with nine digs and Guetterman added eight. Guetterman also had a big outing as the team’s setter as she had 18 assists and McMullen had 12.

The Lady Cats closed out the tournament with a 25-4 and 25-12 win over Highland Park.

Jacobs and Riley Kallevig led Louisburg offensively with five kills each, but it was the serving where the Lady Cats did their damage.

Louisburg racked up 19 aces in two sets, seven of which came from Ratliff-Becher and Chase Kallevig added five of her own. Guetterman also had 17 assists in the victory.

Louisburg downs Baldwin, Tonganoxie

Louisburg was also able to find success in Frontier League play as the Lady Cats swept both Tonganoxie and Baldwin.

The Lady Cats traveled to Tonganoxie last Thursday and left with a 25-18, 25-8 and 25-18 victory over the Chieftains. Two days earlier, Louisburg hosted Baldwin and came away with an easy 25-7, 25-14 and 25-17 win.

Against Baldwin, junior Carleigh Pritchard led the Louisburg offensive attack with nine kills, while senior Liz Jacobs finished with eight and seniors Haley Cain and Erin Lemke each added seven.

Louisburg was also strong from behind the service line as it racked up 12 aces, including six from sophomore Rinny McMullen. Cain and junior Alyse Moore were strong at the net defensively with three blocks each.

Senior libero Reilly Ratliff-Becher also had a big night in the back row as she tallied a team-high 20 digs. McMullen and fellow sophomore Davis Guetterman also had a strong evening at the setter spot with 22 and 12 assists, respectively.

“The team played well both nights,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “In both matches, we served tough and were able to take both teams out of their offense. Reilly and Chase Kallevig played some great defense both evenings. There are still a few areas we need to work on cleaning up, but overall the team played with a lot of energy.”

In its match with Tonganoxie, Pritchard once again led Louisburg up front with a team-high eight kills, while Moore finished with seven. Lemke and senior Riley Kallevig had six kills each.

The Lady Cats also had nine aces in the match, including four each from McMullen and Chase Kallevig. Ratliff-Becher also led Louisburg defensively with 11 digs.

McMullen had a team-high 21 assists to lead the offense and Guetterman was right behind her with 15.

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