Rough week leads to three losses for Lady Cat volleyball

By Andy Brown
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Updated: September 6, 2022

Andy Brown / Louisburg Sports Zone

Louisburg senior Allie Kennedy battles two Paola players at the net last Tuesday during the Lady Cats’ season opener at Louisburg High school.

The early season hasn’t been all that kind to the Louisburg volleyball team as it began with three straight losses, including a pair against bigger programs.

Louisburg traveled to Olathe West on Thursday and competed against the Class 6A school, along with 5A De Soto. After a pair of tough 25-14 and 25-13 losses to Olathe West, the Lady Cats found themselves in a battle with De Soto.

After falling 25-12 in the first set, Louisburg rallied to take the second, 25-21. De Soto, however, took control in the third with a the 25-12 win.

“We didn’t have our greatest showing, and I think the girls would agree with that,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “However, we were still able to challenge De Soto and take a set from them, which is an accomplishment against these bigger schools.”

Louisburg senior Allie Kennedy led the charge at the net as she finished with a team-high eight kills and a block. Senior Adyson Ross had seven kills and a team-high two blocks, while junior Hailey Sword also had seven kills.

***Junior Hailey Sword dives to the floor for a dig last Tuesday at home against Paola.***

Setter Megan Quinn added a team-high 26 assists on the night and also had a team-best 17 digs as four Lady Cats had double-digit totals in that area. Senior Claire Brown had 15 digs, while Ross and Sword tallied 12 and 10, respectively.

Junior Bronwynn Williams, Sword and Brown each finished the night with two aces to lead Louisburg in the serving department.

Louisburg will try and bounce back tonight when it hosts Burlington and Piper in a triangular. The Lady Cats will then hit the road Thursday at Bonner Springs. On Saturday, Louisburg travels to the Lansing Invitational and its first tournament action of the season.

Lady Cats fall to Paola in season opener

For first time in five years, Louisburg came out on the wrong side against its rival.

The Lady Cats hosted Paola last Tuesday in their season opener, and despite putting up a fight, came up short against the Panthers, 3-1.

“I am proud of how the girls battled,” Willer said. “I think it was clear we were a little nervous the first set, but we came back with a vengeance in the second and fought hard in the final two sets. We never gave up and gave it our all no matter the score.

“With this being the first match, we saw inconsistencies in all aspects of the game. However, we saw a lot of positives as well that have us excited for what’s to come.”

Paola took the first set 25-16, but the Lady Cats responded and won the second set by the same score. The Panthers made the plays late in the third and fourth sets to win 25-22 and 25-20.

Senior Claire Brown had a big night for the Lady Cats as she was all over the court. Brown had a team-high 14 kills at the net and also led Louisburg with 14 digs on defense.

Seniors Adyson Ross and Allie Kennedy finished with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Ross was also second on the team with 13 digs.

Junior Madelyn Williams tallied 12 digs from the back row, while fellow junior Hailey Sword finished with 10 of her own.