Lady Cats prepare for postseason after win over Piper in finale

Louisburg senior Alyse Moore sends a shot passed the outstretched arms of a Piper blocker Tuesday during the Lady Cats’ 3-0 win over the Pirates.

The match was more of a formality, really.

Louisburg hosted Piper in its final regular season match of the season, and win or lose, the Lady Cats would still be the No. 1 seed at this Saturday’s sub-state tournament. Still, Louisburg wanted to head into postseason play with some momentum.

Mission accomplished.

The Lady Cats (21-9) took care of business as they defeated the Pirate, 25-23, 25-12 and 25-16 and did so with their full complement of players – something that has been a rarity during the 2020 season.

Louisburg has had to deal with injuries at different points and very rarely has it played with all their pieces in place. Still, the Wildcats are healthy now and are ready to roll into the season.

“I am just really glad we made it all the way this far into the season,” Louisburg coach Jessica Compliment said. “This was supposed to be our Senior Night and we moved it all the way up to the first game because we didn’t know if this night would actually happen. I am happy that we are to the point where we are still playing and we’ve had the season go as smoothly as it has. It was good to finish the regular season out with a win.”

It didn’t start out as easy as the final score indicated as Louisburg was down to Piper, 15-8, in the first set. The Lady Cats persevered as they rallied to take the set, 25-23 and took all the momentum away from the Pirates.

“What we said in the timeout was that we were all playing really tight and nervous, instead of just relaxing, taking deep breaths and playing our game,” Compliment said. “We did a better job in the second and third set of just playing more loose and aggressive, both defensively and offensively.”

Even though all the Lady Cats haven’t played together as a complete unit much this year, they looked strong against Piper. Senior Carleigh Pritchard has made her way back from injury and recorded 11 kills on the night.

Setter Davis Guetterman also went back to playing all six rotations and led Louisburg with 24 assists and also had 10 kills, three digs and three aces. The team’s other setter, Rinny McMullen, led Louisburg with 13 kills on the night and recorded 11 digs, seven assists and three aces.

Louisburg also played strong defensively as junior Chase Kallevig recorded a team-high 14 digs and senior Alyse Moore was also in double figures with 10. Moore also finished with six kills and an ace.

“Alyse really made some great plays in the back row and there were a couple of times where I didn’t know how she got a touch on that ball,” Compliment said. “Chase also does a good job with her defense on the left side. It just fun to see just the way they have evolved, especially Alyse with how she has stepped up in the last week and a half.

“With Carleigh back, and having Davis play all the way around again, it was nice to see the leadership and intensity that both of those girls bring to the court. Davis and Rinny do such a great job of bringing that calming effect out on the players and they are great leaders. Then with Carleigh back out there, she has a way a bringing everyone’s level of game back up as well.”

Now postseason play begins as Louisburg will be the No. 1 seed Saturday at the Eudora sub-state and will play the winner of the play-in game between Tonganoxie and Bishop Miege at 2 p.m. If Louisburg advances, it will play the winner between Baldwin and Eudora.

Miege is considered a favorite to advance past Tonganoxie as the Stags and Louisburg are the No. 3 and No. 4 ranked teams in Class 4A, respectively. Both teams are in the same sub-state and would play in the first round, just like a year ago when the Lady Cats knocked off Miege at the Atchison sub-state.

Louisburg and Bishop Miege faced each other in early October at the Ottawa Invitational and the Stags defeated the Lady Cats, 2-0. Still it was a match that didn’t have the complete cast of Lady Cat players.

“We knew going in that we were probably going to see Miege, we just didn’t know if it would be in the first round or later,” Compliment said. “Miege will have to win the play-in game first, but we know we can play with them and we showed that last year at sub-state. We were a different team than when we saw Miege early in the year. It is going to be a good challenge, but the girls know that they can do it.”