Lady Cats finish up and down week with a win

By Andy Brown
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Updated: October 6, 2020

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg senior Madi Quinn stretches out to keep the ball in play during a home game earlier this season.

It was an up and down week for the Louisburg volleyball team that started with a pair of league wins over Baldwin and Tonganoxie.

Unfortunately for the Lady Cats, they struggled at times Saturday during a quadrangular at the Ottawa Invitational. Louisburg opened with a 2-1 loss to Ottawa and then fell to Bishop Miege, 2-0.

The Lady Cats salvaged their Saturday as they ended the day with a convincing 2-0 win over Basehor-Linwood.

Louisburg, which is now 13-7 on the season, has been forced to play with different lineups throughout the season due to injuries and it continued last week. Senior Carleigh Pritchard, the team’s leader in kills, was out of action to do an injury just days after the Lady Cats became healthy again.

Baldwin was the first team the Lady Cats saw with that new lineup and it went well as the Lady Cats rolled to a 25-18, 25-21 and 25-12 victory.

Junior setter Rinny McMullen stepped up in Pritchard’s absence as she finished with a team-high 14 kills and sophomore middle hitter Allie Kennedy finished with nine. Senior Alyse Moore was also strong at the net with seven kills.

Serving was also key factor in the win as the Lady Cats recorded eight aces, including four from junior setter Davis Guetterman and two from junior libero Chase Kallevig. Guetterman also had a team-high 14 assists and McMullen tallied 13 of her own.

Sophomore Emma Prettyman and McMullen tied for a team-high two blocks on defense, while Guetterman led the way with 16 digs and Kallevig finished with 12. Senior Madi Quinn and Moore added seven and six digs, respectively.

“I thought the team played really well against Baldwin,” Compliment said. “This has been a season where our lineup and roster has changed almost weekly. I was proud of how the players adjusted and stepped up again this week. We did a great job of keeping up our pace and speed of the game.”

The Lady Cats continued their strong play Thursday when they hosted Tonganoxie and they took care of business in a 25-10, 25-9 and 25-12 victory.

Serving was a focus of the Lady Cats’ against Chieftains and it showed as they tallied 13 aces, including five from Kallevig and four more from Kennedy. McMullen added three in the win.

“We focused on minimizing our errors while increasing the aggressiveness of our serves,” Compliment said. “They set individual goals for the night in regard to serving, and they did a good job of reaching those goals.”

At the net, McMullen and Kennedy led the attack for Louisburg. Kennedy had a team-high 14 kills and McMullen finished with 10. Guetterman led the Lady Cats offense with 15 assists and McMullen had 11.

Defensively, Ali Prettyman and Emma Prettyman each added two blocks, while Kallevig and Moore had 12 and 10 digs, respectively.

“I thought Emma did a great job again this week,” Compliment said. “She had some great hits along the net and continues to improve each week. Carleigh tends to carry a larger load or our offense, so the other players needed to step up and contribute more offensively. I thought the team as a whole responded well.”

On Saturday, the Lady Cats got off to a good start as they won the first set from Ottawa, 25-21. Unfortunately, the Cyclones roared back to take the next two – 25-13 and 25-22.

Louisburg then faced off with Bishop Miege and the Lady Cats hung tough in a first set defeat, 25-21. However, Miege took control in the second, and won the match, 25-14.

The Lady Cats ended their day on a positive note as they swept Basehor-Linwood in their final match, 25-21 and 25-18.