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.