Lady Cats finish third at Lansing Invitational

By Andy Brown
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Updated: September 15, 2021

LANSING — It had its ups and downs like most tournaments tend to have, but for the Louisburg volleyball team, it was able to end the Lansing Invitational with a strong showing.

After going 2-2 in pool play, the Lady Cats moved on to the third-place match where they faced off with Basehor-Linwood. Louisburg ended it with a 25-19, 16-25 and 25-19 victory over the Bobcats.

That third place finish was a successful one for Louisburg as they went up against bigger programs throughout the day.

“Finishing third in such a high level tournament is a great accomplishment for us,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “Although we didn’t really play our best volleyball that day, we still showed up to compete and fought through some tough challenges.”

That first challenge came against Platte County (Mo.) to begin pool play. Louisburg was able to hold on for a 25-20, 15-25 and 29-27 victory.

Senior Davis Guetterman provided the Lady Cats with strong play throughout the match. She tallied a team-high three aces and 10 kills in the winning effort.

Guetterman also led Louisburg with 13 assists as she provided the spark her team needed at the moment.

“Davis Guetterman had a really fantastic match against Platte County,” Willer said. “She helped us earn that win and just kept finding ways to get the job done in a close game. Our senior leaders really worked hard to motivate and encourage their teammates to remain fired up all day long.

“Davis, Rinny (McMullen), and Aubryn (Berck) led that charge with great energy. Emma Prettyman stepped up and started to make some very smart plays at the net. We also saw some great defense out of Aubryn, Chase Kallevig, and Adyson Ross in the back row.”

The Lady Cats suffered their first setback in their next match with a 25-18 and 25-21 loss to Blue Valley Southwest.

Louisburg was able to learn from that as they reeled off a 25-22 and 25-11 win over Olathe West, before falling in two matches to Lansing to end pool play.

“Of course we never want to lose, but when it happens we have to turn it into a learning experience,” Willer said. “Blue Valley Southwest is a very solid team, and they kept the ball in play. Unfortunately, it felt like we just kept handing the game over to them by making quite a few unforced errors.

“I’ll give credit to them though, they definitely capitalized on the opportunities we gave them. At practice we focused a lot on being intentional with each contact and making smart choices with the ball.”

The performance in pool was good enough to earn a spot in the third place match and found the Lady Cats found themselves in a dogfight with Basehor-Linwood.

McMullen had a big performance at the net with 12 kills to lead Louisburg, but the Lady Cats also served the ball well with 10 aces. Guetterman and Ross each had three to lead Louisburg.

Defensively, McMullen, Berck and Kallevig were everywhere as McMullen had a team-high 13 digs, while Kallevig and Berck each had 12.

“At that point in the day, I think everyone was just exhausted,” Willer said. “It became a grunt match about who could work to outlast the other team. Our serving and passing were definite keys to the game as well as our defense. We also had a huge focus on limiting our errors and forcing the ball to their side of the court.”

McMullen had a big tournament for Louisburg with a team-high 34 kills. She also recorded 31 digs, five aces and a team-high 45 assists.

Defensively, Kallevig led Louisburg with 48 digs and had four aces over the five matches. Berck also had a strong tournament defensively with 34 digs and had three aces.

Guetterman was second on the team with 25 kills and 43 assists to go along with six aces.

Ross had seven aces to lead the Lady Cats, while middle blockers Allie Kennedy and Emma Prettyman had 22 and 17 kills, respectively. Prettyman also led Louisburg with five blocks and sophomore Hailey Sword tallied three.