Lady Cats finish runner-up at home tournament

Louisburg senior Haley Cain blocks an Olathe North shot at the net Saturday during the Louisburg Invitational. Cain and the Lady Cats finished second overall.

It certainly did end the way it wanted, but the Louisburg volleyball team took a lot of positives Saturday following the Louisburg Invitational.

The Lady Cats may have finished second, but they picked up several wins along with the way and advanced to the championship match where they squared off with Basehor-Linwood. Louisburg fell to the Bobcats in two sets, but it was a step forward for the team this season.

“I thought we played pretty well throughout the entire tournament,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “It’s always a positive when you are playing in the championship, and even better when it’s our home tournament. Overall, we had fewer ups and downs throughout the tournament. We did hit a couple slumps, but we were quicker to respond than we had been in the past.”

Louisburg opened the tournament strong as it went 3-0 in pool play and it got started with a 25-14 and 25-16 win over Shawnee Mission West and then downed Olathe North, 25-16 and 25-21. The Lady Cats finished it off with an easy win over Heritage Christian, 25-4 and 25-7.

Once they got to the semifinals, the Lady Cats came up against their first challenge of the tournament against Shawnee Mission East. Louisburg found itself down 17-11 in the first set, but rallied to back to win 25-22 and 25-18.

Junior Carleigh Pritchard registered three kills in the comeback, while senior Haley Cain recorded an ace and served several points in a row for the Lady Cats in the first set. Tied at 19-all, senior Riley Kallevig served an ace, Pritchard and senior Liz Jacobs recorded a kill and sophomore setter Davis Guetterman tipped the ball over the East defense for a point and a 23-20 lead.

“I was very happy to see how the team responded and rallied back to win the first set,” Compliment said. “We were down big and the team really stepped up and played to win rather than not to win. It was a good match. “

Against Basehor-Linwood in the championship, Louisburg held an 8-5 lead early in the first set after a kill and block from Pritchard and an ace from Kallevig. Basehor eventually went on a run and took a 17-14 lead.

Jacobs recorded a kill to cut the Basehor lead to 20-19, but the Bobcats went on a 5-1 run to end the match and take the first set 25-20.

It was much of the same in the second set.

Louisburg (12-8) jumped out to a 6-0 lead after a kill and block from Cain, a block from junior Alyse Moore and an ace from sophomore Rinny McMullen. Basehor then went on a 11-1 run to take an 11-7 lead.

The Lady Cats didn’t back down and rallied to tie the match at 21-all after an ace from sophomore Chase Kallevig and a kill from Riley Kallevig. Another Moore block kept the Louisburg advantage at 22-21, but Basehor went on a mini 4-1 run to close the match out at 25-23.

“Basehor is always a tough a team that we typically see often throughout the season,” Compliment said. “It’s tough to lose to them, but they are a talented team. I think we had opportunities where we could have pushed a little harder and possibly won, but I still think the team played well. A couple plays here or there could have changed the outcome. We’ll see them again Saturday in Ottawa and hopefully it’ll be different outcome.”

Jacobs led Louisburg at the net with five kills against Basehor and senior Erin Lemke finished with four. Moore added a team-high four blocks at the net, while Pritchard and Cain added three each.

McMullen and Guetterman both recorded seven assists in the win, while McMullen led the team with 10 digs and senior libero Reilly Ratliff-Becher added seven.

Against Shawnee Mission East, Pritchard led the Lady Cat attack with seven kills, while Jacobs and Lemke added six and five, respectively. McMullen registered three aces and 11 assists in the win, while Chase Kallevig led the Lady Cats with seven digs.

Guetterman added a team-high 12 assists in the semifinal win and McMullen finished with 11 of her own.

It was McMullen’s serving that was a big positive for the Lady Cats on Saturday as she finished the five-match tournament with 16 aces. McMullen also served 16 consecutive points in the first set of the Lady Cats’ win over Heritage Christian.

“Rinny’s always been a tough server,” Compliment said. “She leads the team in aces and we definitely score a lot of points while we’re in that rotation. It was fun to see her serve so well, and the team responds to the energy those serves and plays bring.”

Louisburg returns to action tonight when it hosts Baldwin in a Frontier League dual. The Lady Cats will then turnaround on Thursday and travel to Tonganoxie.

Louisburg rolls Fort Scott, Girard

Before its home tournament, Louisburg traveled to Fort Scott on Thursday for triangular with Girard and left with a pair of easy victories.

Louisburg downed Fort Scott 25-16 and 25-14, and then followed it up with a 25-8 and 25-21 win over Girard.

Against Fort Scott, junior Carleigh Pritchard led Louisburg with eight kills on the night and senior Riley Kallevig added five. Seniors Haley Cain and Liz Jacobs both finished with four.

Serving was also strong for the Lady Cats as they tallied eight aces in the match, including two from Cain, Kallevig and sophomore Davis Guetterman. Senior libero Reilly Ratliff-Becher added a team-high six digs and sophomore Chase Kallevig had five.

Sophomore setters Rinny McMullen and Guetterman also had big nights as they tallied 13 and 12 assists, respectively.

It was a balanced attack against Girard as Cain and Riley Kallevig each four kills in the win, while Jacobs, Pritchard and junior Alyse Moore each had three. McMullen had a team-high three aces, while Cain and Riley Kallevig both finished with two. McMullen also led Louisburg with 11 assists.

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