Louisburg senior Corinna McMullen records a kill in Saturday’s sub-state championship match against Baldwin. McMullen led Louisburg with 20 kills on the day.

BALDWIN CITY — Sometimes there are seasons where everything goes your way.

It wasn’t that type of season for the Louisburg volleyball team — in fact — it was quite the opposite. The Lady Cats dealt with injuries for a majority of the 2021 season and it was no different heading into Saturday’s Class 4A sub-state tournament.

Despite getting three players back from injury, Louisburg was without starting middle blocker Emma Prettyman.

The Lady Cats responded with a 28-26 and 25-12 victory over Parsons to advance to the sub-state semifinals against No. 2 Baldwin.

Louisburg pushed the Bulldogs to a third set, but the Lady Cats came up short in the 25-21, 21-25 and 25-15 loss.

It also meant the final game for Louisburg seniors Aubryn Berck, Chase Kallevig, Corinna McMullen and Davis Guetterman.

“Losing never feels good, but losing at the end of the season is heart wrenching, especially in a tough match like that when we have worked so hard all season long,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “We knew it would be a tough match up with Baldwin, just like earlier in the year, but we came prepared for a battle. Unfortunately, we were not the team on top in the end. Baldwin is a great team. They play with a lot of high energy and they have some stud players that came out in full force on Saturday. 

“I think they knew they were going to have to bring it in order to beat us, and they definitely had some players step up. The atmosphere was loud and crazy, but our players love that energy. It was a great volleyball environment and we are proud of the way we played.”

It was a championship match filled with runs as both teams came out swinging.

Louisburg opened the first set with a 7-2 lead after kills from Adyson Ross, Hailey Sword and McMullen. Baldwin would respond with five straight points to tie the match.

It was a tight set most of the way as Kallevig tied it at 18-all after an ace. Ross also had an ace to pull Louisburg within one. Baldwin went on a 4-1 run to end it and take the first set.

Baldwin was the one who took the lead in the second set, but the Lady Cats had a big rally to force a third. Louisburg went on a 7-1 run to win the set thanks to aces from Berck and kills from Ross, Sword, McMullen and Guetterman.

Louisburg (20-17) used that momentum to take a 5-1 lead to start the third after a block from Ross and an ace from Guetterman. Unfortunately for the Lady Cats, it was all Baldwin after that as the Bulldogs outscored Louisburg 24-10 the rest of the way.

It was similar to the five-set thriller the two teams played Louisburg earlier in the season, with the Lady Cats pulling out the win. The only difference this time was the result.

“The match had a lot of ups and downs,” Willer said. “Baldwin came out on fire, and it took us a second to warm up. I thought we really turned it on in the second set, which helped us win. Volleyball is a huge game of momentum. There were big swings in both directions, but they ended up having a few more go their way. Our first five-set match was a thriller, and this one felt no different. We were never out of it, always fighting and pushing back even when their hitters made a big play.

“It did feel like we had the wave of momentum on our side at that point in the third set. We went up 5-1 on Davis’s serve, in what is typically our strongest rotation. On the next point, we made an error to give them the ball back. After a couple of side outs by each team, they were in the rotation with both Fisayo Afonja and Chaney Barth in the front row. We had difficulties with both of those hitters all day, but they went on a run in the third in this rotation and we just weren’t able to answer back.”

Guetterman and McMullen were both the team leaders in assists and kills in the two matches.

Guetterman had a team-high 31 assists, while McMullen had a team-best 20 kills. McMullen finished with 16 assists and Guetterman had 12 kills.

Kallevig and Ross each had three aces to lead Louisburg and Claire Brown was in double figure kills with 10. Kallevig also had a team-high 23 digs, while Berck, Guetterman and McMullen had 19, 18 and 17, respectively.

Although, the Lady Cats will return a core of this group, they have to say goodbye to their four seniors and the impact they had on the team.

“I cannot talk about this senior class enough,” Willer said. “I have been so incredibly blessed to have my first year as head coach be with these senior leaders. They are some of the most dedicated and hard working players who live and breathe the game of volleyball. Rinny and Davis have been running the show since they were freshmen, Chase has been a major part of the defense since she was a sophomore, and Aubryn came in this year and made a huge impact in the back row. They are the core of our defense, serve receive, and offense, and they are at the top of each statistics chart (aside from blocking, but they are close). Even when three of them were injured this season, they found a way to be involved in practices and games by being my ‘assistant coaches,’ especially when our JV and Freshman teams were playing elsewhere. I know that every freshman, sophomore, and junior looks up to them because it’s impossible not to. They are always there ready to push themselves and their teammates. They are never satisfied and always hungry to learn more and keep getting better. 

“They have been excellent role models for our players and have set some pretty high standards for what we expect from our players going forward. They leave behind some pretty big shoes to fill, but they have been training their younger teammates for this moment from the very beginning. They believe in what we are doing here with LHS volleyball and are 100 percent supportive of the next team to come. There will never be another group like this one. They have forever left their mark on Louisburg and they will be dearly, dearly missed. We wish them the best of luck as they move on in their volleyball careers and schooling in the years to come.”

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week eight of the fall sports season, sponsored by Dr. Laura’s Orthodontics.

DAVIS GUETTERMAN, SENIOR, VOLLEYBALL

Louisburg senior Davis Guetterman helped guide the Lady Cat volleyball team to a 2-1 week and a spot in the sub-state finals against Baldwin. Guetterman led Louisburg with 59 assists in the three matches to go along with 19 kills and four aces.

Although the Lady Cats saw their season come to an end, Guetterman finished with a big year for Louisburg. As one of the team’s setters, Guetterman led her team with 456 assists on the season and also led the team in aces with 58. Defensively, Guetterman also performed well with 184 digs.

The athlete of the week award is announced every Wednesday morning during the fall season and the winner is selected by Louisburg Sports Zone with the help of nominations from coaches.

Previous Winners:

Week 1: Jaden Vohs

Week 2: Declan Battle

Week 3: Corinna McMullen

Week 4: Emma Vohs

Week 5: Braden Yows

Week 6: Mack Newell

Week 7: Mason Dobbins

Louisburg senior Corinna McMullen tips a ball over the net Tuesday at Piper High School. The Lady Cats defeated Piper, 3-1, in their regular season finale.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Injuries have just been a part of the Louisburg volleyball team’s season for better or for worse — mainly for worse.

The Lady Cats were recently without three senior starters and that coincided with a six-match losing streak heading into Tuesday’s regular season finale at Piper.

Although Louisburg got its senior starters back healthy enough to play, the Lady Cats were dealt another setback with junior middle blocker Emma Prettyman out with an injury.

Throw in the fact that the Lady Cats are without starting middle blocker Allie Kennedy, who is done for the year with a leg injury, and Louisburg has been having a challenging season.

Louisburg saw a glimmer of hope Tuesday as it pulled out a 3-1 victory over Piper with much of their starting rotation back in action.

“We are very happy to be back on the winning side of things,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “Our team is very competitive and really wanted to win Tuesday night to finish out the regular season. We are extremely happy to have our seniors back playing – their leadership is a game changer for us and it was important to all of us that they were able to play in their last league match of their high school careers.”

The Lady Cats (19-16) showed a little rust at times, but they were able to get stronger as the match went on. 

Louisburg won the first set 25-23, but fell in the second, 19-25. The Lady Cats responded as they won the next two sets. 25-20 and 25-20 to seal the road victory.

“Overall we played well,” Willer said. “We definitely had some kinks to work out as the group on the floor hadn’t played together for a while, but once we figured out how to limit our errors and just relax and play we felt pretty good. Piper is a strong team that has challenged every team in the league this year, so it was nice to win in the end.”

Senior setters Corinna McMullen and Davis Guetterman were back to running the offense and Guetterman led the way with 28 assists and also had three aces. McMullen had 18 assists, two aces and also had a team-high 13 kills.

Junior Claire Brown and sophomore Hailey Sword were also big at the net. Brown was second on the team with 12 kills and Sword had 11. Sword also had a team-high three aces.

Defensively, senior libero Chase Kallevig returned to lead the back row with 25 digs. Junior Adyson Ross had 12 and senior Aubryn Berck added 12 digs.

Now the Lady Cats’ focus is on the postseason. Louisburg earned the No. 7 seed and will travel Saturday to Baldwin High School for sub-state action.

Louisburg will face off with No. 10 Parsons in the sub-state semifinals at 3 p.m. A victory could set up a rematch with Louisburg and Baldwin.

The Lady Cats defeated Baldwin in five sets at home earlier this season, but they know sub-state will be a more challenging test.

“Our girls have been working hard all week at practice and they are excited to come out and perform tomorrow,” Willer said. “We know that nothing is guaranteed and we have to show up ready to work for every point and earn each win as a team, with everyone working together. I cannot think of a season that has had to have such an emphasis on being team players as much as ours. At some point, every single player on our roster has had to step up into major roles on the court and we have relied on each and every person. 

“At this point we are pros at facing adversity and overcoming obstacles, so we are prepared for whatever challenge comes our way on Saturday. We will face some very tough opponents in Parsons, and potentially Baldwin, Coffeyville, or Chanute. Our sub-state bracket is tough, but we have come to the conclusion that we are thankful for the opportunity to play some really great volleyball and fight for a spot in Hutchinson.”

Louisburg sophomore Hailey Sword (right) gets a block during a match earlier this season. The Lady Cats enter their most important week as sub-state begins Saturday.

The Louisburg volleyball team faced its toughest competition of the season this past week.

If that wasn’t difficult enough, the Lady Cats had to it with half of their normal starting lineup on the bench.

Louisburg senior starters Chase Kallevig, Davis Guetterman and Corinna McMullen were all out with injuries as the Lady Cats went up against five Class 5A or bigger programs. Louisburg also ventured to Wamego for a triangular.

It wasn’t a good recipe for success as they lost all six matches to Blue Valley, Basehor-Linwood, Blue Valley North, Mill Valley, Olathe North and Wamego.

“We had some stiff competition last week,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “We faced the No. 1, No. 6 and No. 7 teams in 6A in the East, as well as the No. 6 team in 5A in the East. Wamego is also a very strong 4A team. I was proud of how our girls came into every match positive and ready to focus on our side of the court, getting better each time. We emphasized our effort, communication, and teamwork as things we always wanted to be top-notch, and really focusing on the things we can control.”

Since Louisburg’s starting setters, Guetterman and McMullen, were both out with an injury, Willer pulled up junior varsity setter Megan Quinn to help run the team. Quinn finished the week with 61 assists in her first varsity action. 

Outside hitter Claire Brown also took a big step forward for the Lady Cats and played all six rotations. Brown led Louisburg with 28 kills and 37 digs.

“We saw many girls step up and rise to the occasion last week,” Willer said. “I can’t imagine being put in a much tougher position than Megan Quinn having to come in and set at the varsity level for the first time with that schedule all week, but she handled the pressure very well. 

“We saw our defense step up and make some really awesome plays against some very powerful hitters. I thought that Claire Brown played well as she has become our go-to attacker, and our middles both worked hard to get as many touches on the block as they could.”

Sophomore Hailey Sword had 18 kills and 32 digs. Junior middle Adyson Ross had a team-high six aces and five blocks during that stretch. 

Senior Aubryn Berck had 27 digs and three aces and junior middle Emma Prettyman had 11 kills and five blocks.

The Lady Cats will now focus on their most important week of the season that begins Saturday when they travel to Baldwin for the sub-state tournament.

Before then, Louisburg will travel to Piper today for its final league dual of the season. Still, the Lady Cats hope to take the court with their full roster of players.

“We are very excited for sub-state,” Willer said. “Of course we are focused on taking care of business at Piper, but then we can definitely shift our focus to Saturday. Senior Chase Kallevig will be back in the rotation, and we are looking to ease Davis and Corinna back in as well. As seniors, they are dying to play and want our team to be as close to full strength as possible for the postseason. We are hoping that the rest last week gave their bodies some time to recover and to be able to play this week.”

Senior Davis Guetterman dumps the ball over the outstretched arms of two Eudora players last Tuesday during the Lady Cats’ Senior Night match against the Cardinals.

This version of Senior Night wasn’t what the Louisburg volleyball team had envisioned before the season.

The team had hoped to see seniors Corinna McMullen, Davis Guetterman, Chase Kallevig and Aubryn Berck all on the court together for the final time on their home floor.

Unfortunately, half of them were regulated to the bench as McMullen and Kallevig sustained injuries the week before. Along with junior Allie Kennedy being out for the year, the Lady Cats were without half of their original starting lineup last Tuesday against Eudora.

Still, the rest of the Lady Cats weren’t about to let the Cardinals spoil their Senior Night.

Louisburg got out to a quick start and never looked back in a 25-14, 25-21 and 25-19 victory. The win improved the Lady Cats’ record to 18-10 on the year.

“Eudora has been playing with some of the best teams in the league,” Willer said. “Their record doesn’t really show how good they really are and they have battled everyone they have played. For us to come out and win in 3 and get the job done, really boosted their confidence. Even when they made mistakes, it didn’t affect them much at all.”

Even though they were out with injury, McMullen, Kallevig and Kennedy cheered their teammates on during the Frontier League dual.

“It was really special,” Willer said of the win. “It was killing Rinny and Chase to be sitting there on the bench and not being able to be out there. It made it a little easier for them to see other girls step up and get excited. They were kind of like proud moms over there. They were putting their coaches hats on over there too.”

With the injuries, Willer had to use another new rotation and brought up sophomore Bronwynn Williams up from junior varsity to start on the outside. She also moved Berck from defensive specialist to libero.

Despite all the changes, the Lady Cats put together a solid match that was led by Guetterman as she led the Louisburg offense with 28 assists.

Junior Claire Brown and sophomore Hailey Sword were strong on the outside for Louisburg as they led the team in kills with 13 and nine, respectively. Junior Emma Prettyman had a good game in the middle with seven kills.

“I am proud of the girls,” Willer said. “It is a weird rotation and it is probably the most unconventional that I have ever run. They are playing all over the place, but they did a really good job.

“Both Claire and Hailey really did a good job hitting the ball on the outside. There was a point where they couldn’t really stop them and I told the girls to just keep feeding them. The team made some big defensive plays and it was good to see Bronwynn get a couple kills in her first varsity match. Aubryn stepped into that libero spot and we didn’t lose an inch.”

The Lady Cats also tallied eight aces on the night with Adyson Ross, Brown and Berck recording two each. Berck also led Louisburg defensively with 10 digs, while Brown and Williams each had seven.

Louisburg will try and keep its winning ways going Tuesday when it travels to Blue Valley High School for a triangular with Basehor-Linwood. Matches are set to begin at 6 p.m.

Louisburg junior Claire Brown tips the ball over the net Saturday at the Ottawa Invitational against Olathe West.

OTTAWA — The Louisburg volleyball team suffered a big loss early on Saturday during the Ottawa Invitational and it had nothing to do with a match.

In the second set of the first match of the day against Olathe West, Louisburg senior setter Corinna McMullen sustained an injury and was forced to sit out the rest of the tournament.

Although the Lady Cats responded to beat Olathe West in three sets, their new rotation just couldn’t gain enough traction. Louisburg fell to Maize South, Ottawa, Bishop Miege and Basehor-Linwood to finish the tournament in sixth place.

Louisburg, which was just getting used to a new rotation after losing teammate Allie Kennedy for the season, had to put one together at the last minute.

“It was tough to adjust on the fly, but the girls handled it very well overall,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “Of course we never want to see anyone get hurt, especially during the first game of a tournament. We had finally started to find our groove with the new rotation and then had to start from scratch again, with an even stranger lineup. I was proud of how well the girls adjusted and stepped up to help each other out.”

Louisburg used a one-setter offense with Davis Guetterman and moved junior Claire Brown to play all-six rotations. Sophomore Izzy Moreland also moved to play on the outside. Both Brown and Guetterman stepped up in different areas.

Brown led the team with 35 kills and had six aces. Guetterman had 81 assists and six aces as well.

“We had a few big positives on Saturday,” Willer said. “First of all, Claire Brown came alive on the outside. She became our go-to hitter with Rinny hurt and Davis having to set full-time and she had some really great swings on the outside and even out of the back row. 

“Secondly, Davis Guetterman had to set full time and continue to be the glue holding our team together. She had a long, crazy week with Homecoming and she held us all together. Lastly, Izzy Moreland stepped up as she played the right side and had a few key blocks for us as well.”

The Lady Cats (17-10) defeated Olathe West 25-19, 25-27 and 25-18 and then went on to play Maize South. 

Louisburg took the Mavericks to three sets, but eventually fell 25-18, 17-25 and 25-20. Ottawa came calling next and the Lady Cats lost 25-20 and 25-18.

Again, the Lady Cats forced a 3-set match, this time against Bishop Miege. Louisburg just didn’t have enough to finish in a 25-17, 26-28 and 25-22 loss.

Louisburg ended the tournament with a 25-22 and 25-12 loss to Basehor-Linwood.

The Lady Cats were busy defensively and it started with libero Chase Kallevig. The Louisburg senior had a team-high 36 digs and was also strong from behind the service line with 12 aces.

Three Lady Cats finished in double figures for kills as Hailey Sword had 27, Emma Prettyman had 19 and Guetterman had 15.

Junior Adyson Ross had a team-high four blocks with Guetterman and Prettyman. Senior Aubryn Berck had 32 digs and Ross finished with 31. Ross and Berck also had eight and seven aces, respectively.

“The Ottawa tournament brings some tough competition every match,” Willer said. “I thought that overall our team competed well, but we fell short in a couple of matches that I think we could have won. Finishing the day 1-4 was less than ideal, but we battled every single match and never gave up.”

The Lady Cats will try and bounce back tonight when they host Eudora for Senior Night as seniors Chase Kallevig, Aubryn Berck, Davis Guetterman and Corinna McMullen will all be honored prior to the match.

Louisburg sweeps Tonganoxie in league dual

Coming off an emotional win against state-ranked Baldwin earlier in the week, Louisburg used that momentum Thursday at Tonganoxie.

The Lady Cats cruised to a 25-20, 25-11 and 25-10 victory over the Chieftains.

“The girls played very well against Tonganoxie and we had a strong emphasis on TEAM volleyball,” Willer said. “Every player was involved in the offense and remained focused on earning our points. It was a fun match.”

McMullen led Louisburg with 14 kills, while Ross had seven. Guetterman, Sword and Brown added six each.

Louisburg was also strong from behind the service line with a total of 14 aces. Guetterman and Sword each had five to lead the way.

Berck recorded a team-high 13 digs and also had three aces, while Guetterman and Kallevig both had nine. Guetterman also finished with a team-best 21 assists.

Sophomore Hailey Sword (left) is congratulate by her teammates after coming through with an ace Tuesday during the Lady Cats’ home match with Baldwin.

Tuesday’s match between Louisburg and Baldwin had all the battles and emotions of two state-ranked teams going against each other.

That is because they were.

Going into the night, the Lady Cats held the No. 2 spot in Class 4A and Baldwin was No. 6. Since then, new rankings came out and Baldwin is now the No. 2 team in the state and Louisburg is No. 7 after a difficult previous week.

The Lady Cats protected their home court and did so in dramatic fashion as they held on for a 3-2 victory over the Bulldogs in what was a big league victory for Louisburg.

Louisburg won 18-25, 25-23, 25-18, 22-25 and 15-11 and handed Baldwin just its third loss on the season. It was an evening of spurts that led to a lot of tension-filled moments.

“Baldwin is definitely a really tough team and they have beaten some tough teams this year,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “They play with so much energy and we haven’t really seen that out of Baldwin. The first set was a tough loss and we just made too many errors. For them to bounce back was good to see and the girls starting taking more ownership of their jobs and their roles.”

The Lady Cats (15-6) had their back against the wall after losing that first set, but made several big plays down the stretch to win the next two and take a 2-1 advantage.

Those emotions took a turn for the worst in the fourth set as Baldwin jumped out to a 10-1 lead  and took all the momentum away from the Lady Cats. Louisburg didn’t back down as they eventually battled back to tie the match at 21, before Baldwin went on a 4-1 run to end the set.

“In one of the timeouts I told the girls that we got to stop having these emotional roller coasters,” Willer said. “We have to play with intensity and keep it level-headed. We wanted to capitalize on the runs that we do get and focus on playing good defense. 

“That was a big hole to dig out of. It was an impressive feat to play that well to catch up, only to fall apart again late in the set. It was a game of streaks and that fourth set was the epitome of the whole night. The girls were able to figure it out and play well in the last set.”

Louisburg took an early lead in the fifth set and were able to hang on to take the match.

It came down to a lot of defense for the Lady Cats as they strung several good rallies together with diving plays from almost everyone on the court.

Senior libero Chase Kallevig was as big part of that as she led the Lady Cats with 27 digs. Senior Corinna McMullen had 18, while Aubryn Berck and Davis Guetterman had 15 and 13, respectively.

“We made some big plays, but I even think we could have made a few more,” Willer said. “We were a little hesitant in some of those sets where we were down, and making some defensive errors we don’t usually, but overall the defense did really well. Chase had a really great game for us and came up with a lot of big digs.”

McMullen, who also finished the night with 18 assists, led the Lady Cats with 23 kills and also had two aces and two blocks.

Junior Claire Brown also had a big night at the net with 14 kills and Guetterman had 11. Guetterman also led Louisburg with 30 assists and had two aces as well.

Sophomore Hailey Sword had a team-high three aces and the Lady Cats combined for 10 on the night. Junior Emma Prettyman had six kills and two blocks.

The Lady Cats also had to work around Baldwin’s talented middle blocker, Fisayo Afonja. The sophomore finished with a team-high 13 kills and seven blocks.

“She is very athletic and can kind of jump crazy high,” Willer said. “Her contact point is so much higher and she is a really good player. We got blocked so many times and I think we finally started to realize that we needed to hit around those. We made some good adjustments for sure.”

It was also Breast Cancer Awareness Night and the two teams raised $1,080 that will go directly to the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center of Overland Park. Money was raised through T-Shirt sales and donations.

Louisburg will try for back-to-back league wins tonight when they travel to Tonganoxie. 

Louisburg senior Davis Guetterman tips the ball past the outstretched arms of an Olathe North player Saturday during the Louisburg Invitational.

For being the No. 1 ranked team in the state at one point, the Louisburg volleyball team has been going through some growing pains as of late.

The Lady Cats lost three of their last four matches going into the Louisburg Invitational on Saturday, but that wasn’t even the worst of it.

Louisburg also found out it would be without starting middle Allie Kennedy, who is out for the season with an injury. Kennedy, who is the tallest player on the Lady Cat roster and among the team leaders in kills, was a big absence in their lineup.

Head coach Leanna Willer spent the last week trying to figure out what would work best for her team moving forward. As it turned out, she got her answer on Saturday after her team finished second at their home tournament.

The Lady Cats won their first four matches of the day to advance to the championship match, where they lost a tough one to Shawnee Mission East, 20-25, 25-20 and 25-9.

“Overall, I thought the tournament went really well,” Willer said. “We found a rotation that seemed to work for us a little bit more. After a tough week for us, we felt like we found our groove. I was really proud of them all day. 

“Coming in we were hoping, playing five games, that we could figure some things out. We needed to figure out a rotation without Allie that was going to be successful for us and we needed to figure out what to do defensively. This tournament was really important starting off with those first two matches, where we were able to roll and set the middles a lot. Everyone was equally contributing and that is what we want to see.”

Junior Adyson Ross was the change for the Lady Cats as she replaced Kennedy in the middle and played all six rotations. Ross had a strong tournament with a team-high 15 aces to go along with 20 kills and 17 digs.

Ross served 11 straight points in the Lady Cats’ semifinal victory over Olathe North and helped her team cruise to the championship.

“Adyson played awesome,” Willer said. “We figured out that we want her on the court all the way around. Her defense is good, her serve receive is good and she is doing it as a middle, which has to be exhausting. She stepped up big time for us. She had some good swings and I am proud of how she has stepped up in that role, after not anticipating this at all to begin the season. She had so many aces today and her serve is very good.”

Louisburg got its day going with a 25-7 and 25-7 victory over Highland Park to begin pool play and then followed it up a 25-10 and 25-10 victory over Leavenworth. 

The Lady Cats (14-6) faced off with Shawnee Mission East in the final round of pool play and put together one of their better matches of the day in a 25-17 and 25-23 win over the Lancers.

Olathe North came calling in the semifinal and the Lady Cats made quick work of the Eagles in a 25-11 and 25-20 victory, which set up a rematch with Shawnee Mission East.

Louisburg picked up right where it left off as it won the first set, before the Lancers battled back to tie it up in the second. The Lady Cats couldn’t get much going in the third as they finished with just nine points.

“Even the second set I didn’t think was that bad,” Willer said. “Shawnee Mission East is a good team and you are going to lose some sets to good teams and going three is not that big of a deal. We’ve done it a lot lately.

“You could tell there was a momentum shift and then in the third set we had more errors than we did points. You are not going to win a lot of games like that. We were looking for someone to step up and that didn’t happen. I think we were trying, but we were trying to do too much.”

Senior Corinna McMullen had a big day for the Lady Cats as she finished with a team-high 29 kills and 36 assists. She was second on the team with five blocks and 32 digs, to go along with six aces.

Davis Guetterman, another senior, had a big day from behind the service-line with 13 aces and had 35 assists and 17 kills.

Middle blocker Emma Prettyman had a team-best six blocks and finished with 22 kills. Sophomore Hailey Sword had 17 kills from her outside spot.

Senior Chase Kallevig once again led the Louisburg defense with a team-high 43 digs, while senior Aubryn Berck and Guetterman was second on the squad with 21 each. Kallevig and Berck also had nine and eight aces, respectively.

Lady Cats fall to Ottawa, Girard; beat Fort Scott

Last Tuesday, Louisburg traveled to Ottawa for a Frontier League dual, and despite getting off to a good start, left with a 3-2 setback to the Cyclones.

The Lady Cats won the first two sets, but Cyclones roared back to win the next three to hand Louisburg a 24-26, 22-25, 25-19, 25-17 and 15-9 loss.

“Ottawa was very scrappy and they played very smart, and they have always been that way,” Willer said. “Their coach is smart and they pick on weaknesses like no one else. We could not block a ball and there were times they had a wide open net. We have great defenders, but they aren’t that great where they don’t need a block up. They have a lot of girls that can put the ball away. It is getting better, but we are figuring out slowly.”

Corinna McMullen and Davis Guetterman led the Lady Cats at the net with 15 and 10 kills, respectively and they each had 19 assists.

Senior Aubryn Berck led Louisburg with five aces from behind the service line, while Chase Kallevig had a team-high 18 digs.

Two days later, the Lady Cats ventured to Girard for a triangular with Fort Scott and they left there with a split.

Louisburg opened with a 25-19 and 26-24 loss to Girard, but followed it up with a 25-22 and 25-14 win over Fort Scott.

“It was a weird day,” Willer said. “In year’s past, they haven’t been as strong as they are this year. We are a little weaker at the moment than we have been, and we didn’t come in ready to play. Girard had some good swings, but they passed very well. We missed a decent amount of serves, but it wasn’t one thing that went wrong, it was kind of a combination of everything. Everything that could go wrong, did. 

“We stepped up against Fort Scott. We had the conversation where we can focus on how awful we just played, or we can turn around and figure out how to get a win out of tonight. It was nice to see they stepped up it against Fort Scott.”

McMullen had a team-high 16 kills in the triangular and Guetterman had 10 of her own. Emma Prettyman had eight kills to go along with three blocks.

Guetterman led Louisburg with 20 assists and three aces. Kallevig had a team-best 16 digs, while Berck and Claire Brown had 14 and 13, respectively.

Louisburg junior Allie Kennedy goes up for a kill during last Tuesday’s home match against Spring Hill. Kennedy had to leave with an injury in the third set.

Already down two sets to the defending league champion, the Louisburg volleyball team got even worse news later on in Tuesday’s league dual with Spring Hill.

Lady Cat starting middle blocker Allie Kennedy had to leave with an injury in the third set and the Lady Cats all of sudden found themselves with their backs against the wall.

Despite all the adversity, Louisburg found its way to claw back out. The Lady Cats used its defense to win the next two sets and force a deciding fifth.

Unfortunately, the Broncos made a few extra plays and handed Louisburg a 25-21, 25-17, 20-25, 26-28 and 15-11 loss at home.

“Words cannot express how proud I am of our team for the fight they put up against Spring Hill,” Willer said. “If you saw me after the game, I was very emotional because of how much heart these girls played with — they truly left it all out on the floor. 

“After being down 0-2, pushing to a fifth set is a feat within itself, and we did that facing even more adversity after losing Allie in the middle of the third. Spring Hill is a great team and we had to fight to earn every single point. They were not going to go down easily, but we knew that we weren’t going down without a fight either.”

The Lady Cats were able to get back in it thanks to its defense as they kept play after play alive with key digs and several blocks.

Seniors Chase Kallevig and Aubryn Berck provided a lot of that defense as the two tied for a team-high 21 digs, while fellow senior Corinna McMullen was second with 18.

Senior Davis Guetterman and junior Adyson Ross also had double-figure digs with 11.

“Our defense, as always, kept us in that match,” Willer said. “We weren’t getting big swings and powerful kills, but we kept the ball alive long enough to keep us in the match and eventually force Spring Hill to make some errors. Those four seniors go all out on defense and made some huge plays for us down the stretch. They all have such high volleyball IQs and read hitters very well. We are very lucky to have such awesome defenders.”

Nothing seemed to be going right for the Lady Cats (9-3) early on as Spring Hill took control early and jumped out to a 2-0 lead . Then with Kennedy’s injury in the third, Willer had to make an emergency substitution as Ross replaced Kennedy in the middle.

The Lady Cats responded with a lot of fire as they went on to win the third and then take a very close fourth set, 28-26.

Louisburg got better swings later on in the match and got a team-high 11 kills from McMullen to go along with three blocks and 19 assists. Kennedy had nine kills in her limited playing time.

Junior Emma Prettyman stepped up with Kennedy down as she tallied eight kills and a team-high four blocks. Junior Claire Brown and sophomore Hailey Sword each had six kills and Sword also had two blocks.

Guetterman also had a strong day running the offense with a team-high 20 assists and also a team-high five aces. 

“It looked a little bleak,” Willer said. “Our serve and pass game wasn’t very strong in the first set, and we were making a lot of errors. However, our team made the decision that we were pushing to go to four, then to five. As far as trying to regroup after Allie’s injury, they didn’t see much choice other than giving it their all and doing whatever they could to make the team successful. 

“Girls were placed in positions they haven’t really played before and they rose to the occasion just like I knew they would. We talked about having faith in each other and trusting that every single person out there is going to do their job and give everything they have for the people standing right beside them.”

Louisburg, which went on to earn the No. 1 ranking in Class 4A later in the week, will try and bounce back today when the Lady Cats travel to Ottawa for a league dual.

“The girls were disappointed of course with the loss, but I think they were also very proud of themselves – which they should have been,” Willer said. “We played some of our best volleyball that night and we saw things out of each and every one of them that has since raised the bar for the expectations they have of each other moving forward. We all know just how much each one of us can give, so giving anything less than that moving forward will be unacceptable.”

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.