Lady Cats pick up pair of wins at home triangular

Louisburg sophomore Allie Kennedy rises up to hit the ball over the defense during a match earlier this season. The Lady Cats defeated Shawnee Mission South and Leavenworth on Saturday to earn their fifth straight win.

This year’s version of the Louisburg Invitational wasn’t the same as many of the Lady Cats are accustomed to competing.

Actually, it was quite different.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, and other teams backing out of the tournament, it ended up being two triangulars and Louisburg hosted Shawnee Mission South and Leavenworth in the LHS gymnasium.

Although it wasn’t the tournament format they were hoping for, the Lady Cats still took care of business as they defeated Shawnee Mission South 25-15 and 25-13, and then topped Leavenworth 25-18 and 25-20.

“This season has definitely looked different and Saturdays are definitely different this year,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “In the past, we had five or six matches per tournament and this year we are playing either two or three. We had teams drop out from our tournament so it was disappointing to only play two matches, but we are also grateful for any matches that we are able to get in.”

In their first match against Shawnee Mission South, the Lady Cats held a 13-11 lead in the first set and then went on a run to pull away. Louisburg (10-5) went on a mini 7-3 run thanks to two aces from setter Davis Guetterman and a pair of kills from setter Rinny McMullen.

McMullen finished out the first set as she recorded a kill and a pair of aces to complete the 25-15 victory.

Louisburg took control of the second set early as the Lady Cats jumped out to an 11-3 advantage. The Lady Cats got two aces each from Guetterman and libero Chase Kallevig, along with with kills from McMullen and middle hitters Carleigh Pritchard and Allie Kennedy.

The Lady Cats then ended on an 8-1 spurt after Guetterman served six straight points, including four aces. McMullen added a pair of kills to seal the win for Louisburg.

Against Leavenworth, Louisburg once again got out to a quick start as it took a 15-7 lead thanks to kills from Kennedy, Pritchard, outside hitter Alyse Moore and aces from Guetterman and McMullen.

In the second set, Leavenworth made it a little tighter as it was tied at 12-all before Moore provided two kills and Kennedy recorded a block to put the Lady Cats up 17-13. Emma Prettyman and Ali Prettyman had kills at the end of the second set to help Louisburg pull away.

“We struggled on Saturday to find our rhythm at times, and we are working on ways to increase our enthusiasm and energy on the court,” Compliment said. “We are continuing to see players step up and improve week to week, which is exciting.”

It was the Lady Cats’ fifth straight victory after coming off a tough stretch of games that left them at .500 earlier in the season.

“Wins are always nice to get, but sometimes we can learn more with the losses,” Compliment said. “However, right now these wins should help build some confidence for the players and for the team as a whole. We have another long week ahead with two league matches and a quadrangular on Saturday.”

Louisburg will try and keep its five-match winning streak alive today when the Lady Cats travel to Baldwin for a Frontier League matchup. Varsity is set to begin at approximately 6:30 p.m.