Wildcats keep winning ways going with victory over Bonner Springs

Fresh off a tournament win, the Louisburg volleyball team got right back into Frontier League play last Tuesday against Bonner Springs. 

The Wildcats picked up right where they left off as they continued their perfect start to the league season with a 25-15, 25-23 and 25-12 win over the Braves at Louisburg High School.

The victory improves the Wildcats to 8-4 on the season and are currently 3-0 in league play, in what was their lone competition for the week. It was also their seventh consecutive win.

“It’s always a good feeling to get another league win under our belt, especially as we were headed into this ‘week off’ of playing at the varsity level,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “We faltered a bit in the second set and played with them more than we would have liked, making more hitting errors as well. 

“I was proud that we held on and fought through some challenges as a team, and then we came back in a commanding way in the third to finish out the game.”

Louisburg got out to a good start in the first set and ended strong thanks to Addi Mallett. The Wildcat junior served six points at the end, including two aces, to seal the first set win.

Mallett finished the match with a team-high 11 kills to go along with eight digs and two aces.

“It was nice to see our team start off strong in the first set and finish the game thanks to a great serving run by Addi,” Willer said. “I thought she played a great overall game as she played all six rotations and she led our team kills.”

After a back-and forth set in the second in that ended with a Wildcat victory, Louisburg took control in the final set. The Wildcats jumped out to a big lead and never looked back. 

Along with Mallett, the Wildcats were well-balanced at the net. Juniors McKenna Lohse and Caileigh Kilgore each finished with seven kills, as did sophomore setter Adelyn Moore.

Moore did a little bit of everything for Louisburg as she led the Wildcat attack with 28 assists to go along with her seven kills.

Senior Evyn Richardson led the Wildcats at the net defensively with a team-high five blocks, and in the back-row, senior libero Aspen Coulter had a team-best 14 digs.

The Wildcats also thrived behind the service line as senior Ally Brown led the way with four aces, while Mallett and Lohse each added two. Brown and senior Jaden Bentz each had six digs in the win.

“Ally led the charge from behind the service line and her serve receive was top notch,” Willer said. “Our outsides and middles were all really effective offensively, with impressive hitting percentages for the night.

“Evyn stood out as a force at the net with her blocking. As always, Adelyn ran the show and put our hitters in great positions to be successful.”

Louisburg will try to continue its winning ways this Tuesday (Sept. 24) as the Wildcats host Eudora in a Frontier League dual.