Wildcats drop pair of matches to De Soto, Olathe West

Fresh off their first win of the season, the Louisburg volleyball team had a chance to play in front of its home crowd Thursday.

However, the Wildcats’ opponents proved to be no easy task as they faced off with De Soto, a Class 5A school, and Olathe West, which is ranked No. 4 in Class 6A.

It was definitely a step up in competition for Louisburg as they dropped a pair of matches in a 2-1 loss to De Soto, and a 2-0 setback to Olathe West.

“For the most part, our team competed well against De Soto and Olathe West,” Willer said. “At the start of each match, we seemed a little shell shocked at the speed and pace of the game, but we started to figure them out and climb our way back into the game each time. 

“Once we started with playing with confidence, I think we proved to ourselves that we can compete with these teams and make big plays. Unfortunately, we let each opponent go on a couple of big runs and we couldn’t quite come back to get a win.”

The Wildcats (1-2) opened the night against De Soto and got off to a rough start as they dropped the first set, 25-11. Louisburg responded nicely, however, with a 25-19 victory in the second to force a deciding third set.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, De Soto went on a 9-1 run to open the third set and eventually won 25-16.

At the net, junior McKenna Lohse and Addison Mallett led the way with five kills each, while sophomore Adelyn Moore and junior Caileigh Kilgore each had three.

Senior Evyn Richardson led the Wildcat defense at the net with three blocks, while Moore ran the offense with 15 assists.

Defensively, senior libero Aspen Coulter led the way with seven digs, while senior Jaden Bentz and junior Delaney Nelsen each had four.

The Wildcats had seven aces in the match, including three from Lohse and two from Coulter.

Against Olathe West, the Wildcats had a tough time getting going against one of the best teams in Class 6A as they fell 25-11 and 25-17.

Lohse, Richardson and Kilgore each had three kills in the match, while Lohse and Moore both had two blocks. Moore also finished with 10 assists. Both players also led the team with four digs.

Louisburg will try and bounce back Tuesday when it travels to Piper for a triangular with Wichita-Trinity.