Louisburg volleyball downs Burlington for first win of season

Louisburg junior Evyn Richardson goes up for a kill during Tuesday’s home match against Piper. The Wildcats defeated Burlington, 2-0, before falling to Piper, 2-1.

It was a mixed bag of sorts for the Louisburg volleyball team Tuesday at home.

On one hand, the Wildcats picked up their first win of the season with a 25-5 and 26-24 victory over Burlington and used that momentum to go up early in their match against Piper.

Louisburg was primed for a sweep, but the Pirates had other ideas. The Wildcats fell to the Pirates, 23-25, 25-12 and 25-22 to get a split in their home triangular.

“It was great to get that first win under our belt,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “We came out ready to roll in that first set and never looked back. It was a fun way to start the night. We are currently battling the challenge of remaining consistent, but I think we are making progress toward better consistency every day with the work we are putting in during practice, and learning from our games.”

The Wildcats got out to a fast start against Burlington as they jumped out to a 19-2 advantage in the first set, but had to battle in the second. 

Louisburg (1-4) took a 14-6 lead and appeared on its way to another easy win. Burlington had other ideas as it battled back to eventually even it up at 23-all.

Wildcat junior Evyn Richardson recorded a kill to make it 24-23, before Burlington tied it up once again. Sophomore Delaney Nelsen registered a kill to make it 25-24 and Louisburg sealed the win on an ace from Megan Quinn.

Senior Hailey Sword and Richardson each led the Wildcats with seven kills and senior Katie Elpers finished with five. Setters Adelyn Moore and Quinn finished with 11 and 10 assists, respectively.

Sword and Moore each led the Wildcat defense with six digs. From behind the service line, Louisburg tallied six aces in the match, including two from Quinn.

Louisburg got out to good start against Piper as it was able to take the first set, but struggled to get going in the second. The Wildcats bounced back nicely in third and appeared well on their way to a victory with an 18-14 lead. 

Piper had other ideas as it ended the match on an 11-4 run to get the victory over Louisburg.

“Losing that second match to Piper in three was tough, but like I said, I think it provided some really great learning moments for our whole team,” Willer said. “Making 19 more errors than the other team makes it tough to win a match. Walking into practice the next day, we were very focused on specific things that we wanted to improve after that game, and as a coach that’s all I can ask for.”

Sword led the Wildcats at the net once again as she tallied 10 kills. Senior Madie Williams finished with seven kills and also had a team-high three aces.

Moore led Louisburg in assists with 14 and Quinn added 12 to go along with two aces. Defensively, Williams had a big night for Louisburg with 11 digs and senior Ashlyn Berck added seven.

Louisburg will try and bounce back tonight as it gets back into league play. The Wildcats travel to Ottawa for a 6:30 p.m. start.