Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week six of the fall sports season, sponsored by Landmark National Bank.

ADELYN MOORE, SOPHOMORE, VOLLEYBALL

Louisburg sophomore Adelyn Moore did a little bit of everything for the Wildcat volleyball team last week as she helped the Wildcats to a second place finish Saturday at the Atchison Invitational. Moore, the team’s setter, helped Louisburg to a 3-1 record on the day and led the team with 111 assists.

Moore was also big from behind the service line as she led the Wildcats with nine aces on the week and also tallied 19 kills. She also played well on the defensive end with 23 digs. Moore helped Louisburg to wins over Schlagle, Atchison and Perry-Lecompton in the tournament, with their lone loss coming in three sets to Shawnee Mission South.

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: Myles Vohs

Week 2: McKenna Lohse

Week 3: Ashton Moore

Week 4: Levi Cotter

Week 5: Colton Blue

Senior Night is always a special moment for any team and it was the case again Thursday as the Louisburg volleyball team hosted Spring Hill for a Frontier League dual.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Spring Hill put a damper on the evening as the Broncos handed Louisburg a 25-16, 25-19 and 25-13 loss in what was the final home game this season.

Still, the Wildcat players and fans had a chance to say thank you to the five Louisburg seniors — Jaden Bentz, Ally Brown, Aspen Coulter, Katie McKain and Evyn Richardson — as they played their last game in the LHS gymnasium.

“Senior Night is always a very special night for our program,” Willer said. “With volleyball, the timing of senior night can be tricky, and this year was no different — senior night is happening yet we still have quite a few games left to play. I think that helps our girls to know that we still have time with our seniors left, but it definitely brings attention to how that time is winding down and how we want to make the most of the time we have left with this particular group of girls.

“These seniors have brought so much fun and energy to our program and they each bring their own unique personality to the gym every day. They have truly impacted our program and are going to leave their mark on the team this year.”

Spring Hill is currently undefeated in Frontier League play and is on pace to win the league title and the Broncos made it tough on the Wildcats.

“Against Spring Hill, we saw our team do some really great things and make some big plays that had us hanging in there, especially in the second set,” Willer said “Unfortunately, we couldn’t string enough of those good plays together to come out on top in the end. Overall, I thought we fought hard and our seniors especially really tried to make the most of playing on our home court for the last time.”

Richardson had a big night in her final home performance as she finished with a team-high 10 kills to go along with two blocks. Juniors Caileigh Kilgore and McKenna Lohse added five kills each.

Louisburg setter Adelyn Moore had a team-high 23 assists to go along with nine digs and two blocks. Brown was also second the team with nine digs.

The Wildcats will try and get back in the win column Tuesday when they travel to Tonganoxie for their final league dual of the season. Varsity is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Louisburg gets league road victory at Paola

It may not have been as easy as the 3-0 score indicated, but Louisburg picked up a win over its rival last Tuesday in Paola.

The Wildcats defeated the Panthers 25-23, 26-24 and 25-22 as they were able to pull out three close set victories on the road.

“Winning another league match is always going to be a positive, especially when we can do it in straight sets,” Willer said. “With Paola being our closest competitor geographically in the league, we have a natural rivalry, so beating them is always important to us. We didn’t play our best, but I’m proud of the team for being able to dig themselves out of some holes in each set and come back to win.”

Serving and defense provided the Wildcats with a good starting point against Paola as Louisburg tallied eight aces in the those three sets, including three each from Ally Brown and Delaney Nelsen.

Brown also stepped up in the back row as she tallied a team-high 21 digs and another senior, Jaden Bentz, had 11 and Nelsen added nine.

Offensively, junior McKenna Lohse had a big night as the Wildcat middle blocker led the team with five blocks and also had a team-high 11 kills. Junior Caileigh Kilgore added nine kills in the win.

Louisburg sophomore setter Adelyn Moore had a team-high 31 assists.

“I thought our defense was really strong and we made some great digs that we were able to then convert to offense which is exactly what we need to do,” Willer said. “Defensively, Ally stood out as she made some really great digs out of middle back. Offensively, I think Kenna stood out as she took some big swings and finished as the kill leader for our team.”

The Louisburg volleyball team put itself to the test Saturday during the Louisburg Invitational.

The Wildcats went up against five bigger schools during the round-robin tournament and finished with a 3-2 record. When it was all said and done, it was enough to garner themselves a runner-up trophy.

Louisburg earned victories over three Shawnee Mission schools — South, West and East — and suffered losses to eventual champion Olathe North and Basehor-Linwood. It was a strong showing in what started a busy week for the Wildcats.

“We are very proud of our second place finish at our home tournament,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “It’s a tough tournament filled with all 5A and 6A schools aside from us, so we always know that it’s going to be a challenge going into it. Teams throughout the day did seem to be pretty evenly matched as many games went to three sets.

“Overall, Saturday was a good day for our team. It was a good test to see what we can do against tough competition all day long, and how we can bounce back from a rough game in the middle of the day. I think we had some good learning moments throughout the day and we learned more about each other as a team and how we respond in tough situations.”

All those evenly-matched teams provided some drama at the end as there was a 3-way tie for second place when it was all finished. Louisburg came out on top due to win percentage and head-to-head battles.

As it turned out, the Wildcats’ victory over Shawnee Mission South proved to be its most important as South was one of the teams tied with Louisburg at the end of the day.

It was a rocky start for Louisburg as it lost the first set 21-25, but rebounded to win the second 25-18. The Wildcats put together a big rally in the third set and eventually held on for the 30-28 victory.

The Wildcats found themselves down 23-17 in the third set, but junior Delaney Nelsen served six straight points and recorded an ace in that stretch to tie it up at 23-all. 

South had match point three different times after that, but all three times junior Caileigh Kilgore staved off elimination with a kill. The Wildcats eventually held on for the victory and forced a couple South mistakes.

“The match against Shawnee Mission South proved to be one of the most exciting of the day as we went extra points in that final set,” Willer said. “ It did take us a little bit to wake up and get going in the morning, but having that high of an intensity level during the first match of the day was good for us moving forward, and we were able to carry that momentum into the game against Shawnee Mission West as well.”

Louisburg took care of business against Shawnee Mission West, 25-14 and 25-22, before moving on to tough matchup with Olathe North. The Wildcats fell 25-15 and 25-12 to the tournament champion.

Basehor-Linwood was next up for the Wildcats in what proved to be another three-set match. After taking the first set, 25-22, the Wildcats couldn’t quite pull off the upset as they lost the next two, 18-25 and 21-25.

“The loss to Basehor was tough as we were close and went back and forth a bit throughout the whole match, but we did recognize that they are a solid team and we just couldn’t quite get over the deficit we built for ourselves,” Willer said. “It wasn’t fun to lose of course, but we held our own more than in the previous match against Olathe North, so I was happy to see that we put up more of a fight even in the loss.”

The Wildcats had a chance to end their tournament with a winning record against Shawnee Mission East, and they took advantage as they went three sets again. Louisburg won the match 25-19, 17-25 and 25-23 to secure the second place finish.

“Going into the last match of the day, we talked about how we wanted to leave it all out there on the floor and end the day on a positive note,” Willer said. “We rallied around each other and pushed hard to make sure that we ended up on top against a solid Shawnee Mission East team and we were happy to walk out that day knowing we finished on a more positive note than we had seen through most of the day.”

Several different players stepped for Louisburg throughout a long day of volleyball and it started with setter Adelyn Moore. The Wildcat sophomore did a little bit of everything as she led the team with 107 assists on the day and had a team-best 37 digs.

Moore finished with 16 kills, five aces and two blocks. She also distributed the well to several different hitters.

Kilgore and junior Addi Mallett led Louisburg with 29 kills on the day and junior McKenna Lohse was right behind them with 28. Senior Evyn Richardson had 26 kills and led the team in blocks, along with Lohse, with five.

The Wildcats also did a lot of work from behind the service line as the team tallied 29 aces on the day. Senior Ally Brown had strong performance with a team-high 10 aces and Lohse finished with six.

Senior Aspen Coulter and Nelsen each finished the day with four aces. Coulter also tied Moore with a team-high 37 digs, while Brown had 29. 

“Throughout the day, I was happy to see different players step up at different times to lead both verbally and by their actions on the court,” Willer said. “We are working to develop our team identity and I think we are growing closer with each and every game.”

Louisburg is back on the court tonight as the Wildcats will celebrate Senior Night against Spring Hill. Varsity is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

GIRARD — Fresh off its first Frontier League loss of the season, the Louisburg volleyball team responded in a big way — with a pair of road victories.

On Thursday, the Wildcats traveled to Girard for a triangular with Fort Scott, and despite a slow start, earned a 2-1 win over Girard and a 2-0 victory against Fort Scott.

Louisburg dropped the first set of the night to Girard, 22-25, but responded nicely to win the next two 25-13 and 25-21. The Wildcats continued that momentum against Fort Scott in the 25-12 and 25-9 victory.

“We were happy to come out of Girard with two wins,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “Going on the road is always a challenge, but we were able to pull out a win against a really tough and scrappy Girard team. We definitely didn’t play our best, but Girard played smart and blocked really well too. 

“They are 18-3 on the season and a really strong 3A opponent for us to play so we were glad to get a little gritty to pull off the win. Then, we were really able to find our groove against Fort Scott for the second win of the night.”

It was a slow start, but the Wildcats were able to get back in it thanks to their efforts from behind the service line — more specifically Delaney Nelsen. 

Nelsen finished the match with six of the team’s 10 aces and the Wildcats made it difficult on Girard. Senior Aspen Coulter and junior McKenna Lohse each added two of their own.

“Some big positives on the night were us focusing on winning the serve and pass game, and buying into that need for our team,” Willer said. “It took us a little while to get there, but once we settled into that I think we were able to see some great plays made.”

Offensively, the Wildcats had a strong outing as sophomore setter Adelyn Moore led the way with 33 assists against Girard as they had a balanced attack at the net.

Junior Caileigh Kilgore led Louisburg with 10 kills, while senior Katie McKain and Lohse each finished with eight. 

Defensively, senior Evyn Richardson and Kilgore led the way at the net with seven combined blocks, with four of those from Richardson.

Coulter, the team’s libero, led the Wildcat back row with 10 digs, while Addi Mallett, Ally Brown and Kilgore each had five digs.

Against Fort Scott, Louisburg had another balanced attack at the net as Mallett, Kilgore and Lohse each led the team with six kills and Moore added four.

The Wildcats also had nine aces on the match, including three from Coulter, along with two from Brown, Moore and Lohse.

Brown led the Louisburg back row with eight digs and Coulter added seven in the win. 

Following its home tournament last Saturday, the Wildcats are in the middle of a stretch that sees them play 12 matches in eight days. It continues today when they travel to Paola for a Frontier League dual.

“This is a very important stretch for us,” Willer said. “That being said, we try to really only focus on one game at a time. This past weekend, we had all 5A and 6A opponents, followed by two big league games with Paola and Spring Hill during the week, and then we finish off next weekend at the Ottawa tournament where we will see some really good 4A and 5A teams as well. 

“While winning every game is the ultimate goal, we want to continue to focus on improving as a team through each one. We learn more and more about ourselves and the things we can do to get better each game, so I am looking forward to seeing how this team grows and responds to the challenges of this intense part of the schedule.”

Wildcats lose first league match of season to Eudora

Louisburg faced its toughest Frontier League challenge to date last Tuesday as the Wildcats hosted Eudora, and while they battled the Cardinals, they came up short 25-17, 25-21 and 25-23 loss.

“I think our team played with a lot of heart,” Willer said. “That’s a really, really solid team, and we fought hard throughout each of the three sets to compete the best we could. There were some weaknesses of ours that got exploited a little bit, but that gave us some things to focus on in practice in the following days. Overall, we battled hard and I am proud of the way we played.”

Louisburg had a balanced attack at the net as junior Caileigh Kilgore led the way with six kills, while senior Evyn Richardson, and juniors McKenna Lohse and Addi Mallett each had five. Sophomore Adelyn Moore tallied 20 assists on the night.

Richardson led the Wildcats with four blocks on the night, while junior Rylee Telken had two. Mallett led the back row with 11 digs on the night, while senior Ally Brown was also in double figures with 10. 

However, the loss was not the most important thing for Louisburg that night. The Wildcats hosted Dig Pink Night in an effort to raise money for a local family battling cancer.

In all, the team was able to raise more than $1,200 that they will able to present to the family. 

“Our Dig Pink Night was a huge success and we were able to raise a lot of money for a local family who is currently fighting the good fight against cancer,” Willer said. “We had some amazing donors and participants in our serving competition, and our surprise auction was a great addition thanks to a generous donation.

“Every one of us knows someone who has had their life turned upside down by cancer, so it’s a really meaningful thing for our players to get to dedicate the night to those loved ones. Our community showed up big time for us that night and supported us the whole way through, making it very clear that Louisburg is a special place to be.”

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. 

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week two of the fall sports season, sponsored by Landmark National Bank.

MCKENNA LOHSE, JUNIOR, VOLLEYBALL

Louisburg senior McKenna Lohse put together a strong performance, in what was a busy week for the Wildcat volleyball team. Lohse and the Wildcats ended it with a first place finish at the Frontenac Invitational on Saturday and the team wrapped up the 8-game week with a 6-2 record.

Lohse, a middle blocker for the Wildcats, was a big reason for all that success. In those eight games, Lohse tallied 46 kills and also had seven aces. Against Pittsburg in the championship match Saturday, she finished with a team-high seven kills, and had 29 kills and four blocks total in the tournament.

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: Myles Vohs

FRONTENAC — Louisburg volleyball had a difficult schedule through its first six matches of the season, that included two-ranked opponents, and it lost four of them.

Despite its rough start, Louisburg showed out in its first tournament of the season Saturday at the Frontenac Invitational. The Wildcats won all five matches, including a 25-19, 26-24 win over Pittsburg in the championship, to capture the tournament title.

Following a league victory Thursday over Ottawa, the Wildcats have now won six straight and are starting to build momentum on the young season.

“This was a great start to the tournament season,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “We were really glad to get back on the winning side of our games, and it definitely helped build our confidence as a team. We battled through a couple of three set matches to start the day and worked hard to come back in the third to take them after dropping those second sets. 

“Coming home with a first place plaque to display in the front of the school is always a good feeling and we have set team goals to not let that be the only hardware we come home with.”

The Wildcats (7-4) got off to a little bit of a slow start as they defeated Cherryvale in three sets, 25-19, 18-25 and 25-12. They went three sets again in their next pool play match against Fort Scott, but again came away with a 25-19, 23-25 and 25-15 victory.

Louisburg won its pool after a 25-19 and 26-24 victory over St. Mary’s-Colgan, and once the Wildcats reached bracket play, they stepped it up.

“In our final two matches of the day, we hit a point where we decided that we weren’t going to let ourselves go to three again,” Willer said. “We wanted to focus on our side of the net and take care of business – trusting everyone to do their job and get us where we wanted to be. Thanks to some great serving, we were able to string together a few runs in each set to make that happen.”

It was the serving that lifted the Wildcats past a pair of good opponents in Girard and Pittsburg.

Louisburg defeated Girard, 25-21 and 25-18, to reach the championship match in big thanks to its performance from behind the service line. 

After the first set win, sophomore Adelyn Moore and senior Ally Brown helped serve the Wildcats to an 8-1 advantage in the second. However, Girard battled back and eventually tied the match at 15.

Brown once again put the Wildcats back on top as she served five straight points, including three aces, to put Louisburg up 21-15 and the Wildcats were able to pull away. Brown finished with five aces in the match.

The serves helped set up kill opportunities from Addison Mallett and Evyn Richardson, who helped continue the run.

“Serving was a big part of our success in the latter half of the day,” Willer said. “We continuously talk about winning the serve and pass game, and we were able to serve aggressively – especially in those last two matches to give us an advantage over each team. Ally’s serve came up huge for us in the semi-final game against Girard. That stretch included three aces and some other killer serves that set us up for success.”

Mallett led the Wildcats at the net in that match with six kills and four blocks, while junior Caileigh Kilgore had five kills and Richardson had three blocks. Junior McKenna Lohse had four kills and two blocks. 

Moore, the team’s setter, ran the offense well with 17 assists. Defensively, senior libero Aspen Coulter led Louisburg with nine digs and senior Jaden Bentz added seven.

The good serving continued in the championship match against Pittsburg. 

Coulter, Moore and Lohse all put together key serving runs to give the Wildcats the early lead. Coulter had two aces in the match, while Moore and junior Delaney Nelsen each had one.

“In the championship, Aspen, Adelyn, and Kenna had a combined total of 30 serves, which were all aggressive enough to push Pittsburg out of system as much as we could,” Willer said. “When we are tough behind the service line, we are much tougher to beat.”

Lohse was big for Louisburg at the net in the championship match as she posted a team-high seven kills and junior Rylee Telken added five of her own. 

Defensively, Coulter was all over the floor with a team-high 16 digs, while Kilgore and Brown had seven and six, respectively.

For the tournament, the Wildcats had 31 aces in the five matches. Nelsen led the way with seven aces, while Brown finished with six. Coulter and Moore each had five of their own.

Moore had a busy day running the offense and doing a little bit of everything from the setter spot. She tallied 108 assists in the five matches to go along with 26 digs and 15 kills.

“Throughout the whole day, we ran a really balanced attack,” Willer said. “Adelyn did a great job of distributing the ball and finding our hot hitters when we needed a kill, and she threw in a few of her own as well. It was really nice to see that if one of our hitters was struggling, we were able to find others to step up and fill our offensive needs.”

Several Wildcats stepped up at the net as Kilgore led the way with 31 kills, while Lohse and Mallett had 29 and 25, respectively. Richardson added 18 kills, while Telken (13) and senior Katie McKain (12) also finished with double-digit kills.

Richardson posted a team-high 11 blocks on the day to lead the way defensively and Mallett had seven. In the back row, Coulter had a team-best 58 digs, while Brown finished 31.

It was exactly the kind of day the Wildcats were hoping for after a rough stretch to start the season.

“Throughout the day, I was constantly changing and tweaking our lineup to try out some different options and just get some different looks with our core group,” Willer said. “No matter the lineup, our players adjusted and adapted to every different combination and found a way to mesh. Regardless of who was playing in the game or not, everyone remained supportive and encouraging of their teammates which made it a fun day for everyone.”

Wildcats sweep Ottawa in league dual

Before Saturday’s tournament, Louisburg was able to start a winning streak during Thursday’s home Frontier League dual against Ottawa.

Louisburg won the match in three sets, 25-19, 25-8 and 25-22, to move to 2-0 in league play.

The Wildcats got out to a rough start before Ottawa’s starting middle blocker, Dylan Nichols, had to leave midway through the first set with a serious leg injury.

“With the competitive nature of our league, securing those wins on league nights is really great,” coach Leanna Willer said. “It’s tough to do consistently in this league because we have so many strong teams. Ottawa started off really strong, and it was clear our girls were a little nervous heading into the first home league match, but we were making a comeback in the first set. 

“Unfortunately, Ottawa did suffer an injury that took their team out of it for a little bit. We never want to see that happen to anyone, but Ottawa came back together and really put up a fight in the third set and it was good for us to remain strong as a team and get the win.”

Louisburg was able to serve well again as it totaled eight aces, including three from junior McKenna Lohse. 

Junior Caileigh Kilgore and Lohse were also strong at the net with 13 and 11 kills, respectively, while Moore had 30 assists on the night.

Defensively, junior Rylee Telken had three blocks to lead the Wildcats and senior Katie McKain had two. Senior libero Aspen Coulter had 18 digs to lead the Louisburg back row, while seniors Ally Brown and Jaden Bentz had eight and seven, respectively. 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — It has been a difficult schedule so far for the Louisburg volleyball team and it continued Tuesday at Piper.

The Wildcats squared off with Piper, a Class 5A program, and Wichita-Trinity Academy, which is the No. 3 ranked team in Class 3A. Although they left with a pair of losses, Louisburg more than held its own.

Louisburg fell to Trinity 25-23 and 25-21, and then ended the night with 25-23 and 25-23 loss to Piper. The Wildcats had leads in both matches, but some rough stretches were too much to overcome.

“Overall, I was really proud of how our team played in the triangular,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “Both Trinity and Piper are really solid teams with wins over good teams thus far, so we knew we were in for some good matches. Losing sets by 2, then 4, then 2 and 2 points again is so frustrating because it feels like we are right there. We can taste that victory but we just couldn’t quite overcome the runs that we let each team go on in the end.”

Against Trinity, the Knights jumped out to a 22-14 lead in the first set, but the Wildcats made a run to make it interesting. Louisburg junior McKenna Lohse served seven straight points, had two aces, and the Wildcats got kills from Caileigh Kilgore, Addison Mallett and Rylee Telken to tie it up a 22-all.

Trinity would end up taking the set, but it gave the Wildcats some momentum for the second. Louisburg took a 14-10 lead behind kills from Mallett and Katie McKain.

The Knights would tie it at 14-all, but the Wildcats responded to take a 19-16 lead on kills from Adelyn Moore and Kilgore. Trinity responded with a run of their own to take a 21-19 lead and held on for the win.

Mallett led the Wildcats at the net with seven kills, while Kilgore finished with six. Defensively, Telken had two blocks, while Moore ran the offense with 22 assists.

Louisburg also had four aces in the match, including two from Lohse, who also had four kills. Senior Ally Brown led the Wildcat back row with 10 digs and an ace, while senior libero Aspen Coulter and Moore had eight and seven digs, respectively.

In its match with Piper, Louisburg found itself down 23-15 in the first set, only to make another comeback. Moore served four straight points, and got a kill from Kilgore and block from Telken to make it 23-19.

Louisburg cut it to 24-23 as Brown served three straight points including an ace, but could get no closer.

Piper took another big 15-8 lead in the second set, but the Wildcats put together another run. Brown served four straight points including an ace, and after a block from Telken and a kill from Mallett, the Wildcats cut it to 15-13.

The Pirates widened their lead to 20-14 and were able to hold off Louisburg late.

Louisburg (1-4) wasn’t at full strength as it was without senior middle blocker Evyn Richardson, who was sidelined with an injury. Telken came off the bench and responded as she led the Wildcats with four blocks and also had a pair of kills.

“Rylee stepped up in a huge way, and it was so fun to see her really shine in a position she hasn’t played all year,” Willer said. “She really loves the game and you can tell that she watches a lot of volleyball because of how well she can anticipate the next play. Her speed and agility were a big asset to us as well because she was able to put up a strong block against solid attackers from each team. 

“I love the depth that this group of girls gives me. We have a lot of girls who can be versatile and excel in multiple positions and Tuesday was a great example of that.”

Mallett and McKain each led the Louisburg attack with four kills each and Moore tallied 14 assists. Brown had the team’s lone aces with two, while Moore and Coulter had nine and eight digs, respectively.

Piper did a lot of damage from behind the service line as it tallied 10 aces on the night, compared to just two for Louisburg.

The Wildcats will try and bounce back Thursday when they host Ottawa in a Frontier League dual. Varsity is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

“Other than one, maybe two rough patches each set, we were playing some really great volleyball,” Willer said. “So now, we are really focusing on what we can do as a team to cut teams off from those long runs and get the ball back in our servers’ hands. We are all very much ready to get back on the winning side of the scoreboard.”

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.

BALDWIN CITY — Losing the first set on the road in your opening match wasn’t the most ideal way to start the 2024 season for the Louisburg volleyball team.

However, instead of putting their heads down, the Wildcats rallied around each other in what was a difficult road environment Tuesday against Baldwin.

Louisburg put together three straight set victories and came away with a 3-1 victory over the Bulldogs in its season opener.

“The first match of the season can really set the tone for the year,” Louisburg coach Leanna Willer said. “We were looking to start off on a positive note, and coming out of Baldwin with a win has us starting off the season in a great place with a little more confidence built in each other. 

“Baldwin is a tough place to play. The gym is loud, and they have a great student section to give them a lot of energy. We were eventually able to embrace the energy in the gym and let it fuel us in the final three sets to get the win.”

The Wildcats dug themselves a hole they couldn’t get out of in the first set in a 25-17 loss. Baldwin carried that momentum and took a 10-5 lead into the second set.

Louisburg responded with a 7-2 run to tie the set at 12-all. Sophomore Adelyn Moore then served back-to-back aces to put the Wildcats up 16-14 and eventually won 25-19 to tie the match.

“I’ll admit that the first set had me holding my breath a little bit,” Willer said. “Those first game jitters were very much apparent and we made way more errors than we would like. Our main focus toward the end of the set was to build momentum to carry over into set 2 and take care of our side of the game. 

“Baldwin was a very scrappy team and we had a tough time finding ways to put the ball down. That being said, there were some really fun long rallies with great plays made on both sides of the court, so it was an exciting first game.”

Junior McKenna Lohse helped give the Wildcats a big advantage in the third set with a kill, two aces and served five straight points to put them up 6-1. Baldwin eventually rallied to take a 22-20 lead late.

However, a Bulldog error and an Addison Mallett kill tied it up at 22. Baldwin scored another point, but the Wildcats took the last three on a Baldwin error, a Lohse kill and a block by junior Caileigh Kilgore.

That swung all the momentum to the Wildcat sideline and they were able to cruise in the fourth set in the 25-15 victory and took the best-of-five match.

Moore had a big night for the Wildcats in several areas. She ran the offense with a team-high 29 assists, and also had six kills, two aces and 10 digs.

Lohse also played well for Louisburg as she had a team-high four aces, to go along with a team-high three blocks and five kills.

“Both Adelyn and Kenna had great performances, and their connection really seemed to shine in the final sets,” Willer said. “We definitely had some players step up big behind the service line for us, and those two along with Ally Brown led the team in aces. Consistent, aggressive serving is something we spent a lot of time on this summer, so it was nice to see our servers take ownership of that last night.”

Several Wildcats contributed to the win at the net and in the back row. 

Junior Addison Mallett led the team in kills with 10, while Kilgore and senior Evyn Richardson each had nine and eight, respectively.

Defensively, senior libero Aspen Coulter finished with a team-high 18 digs, while senior Ally Brown finished with 16 digs and also had three aces on the night. Senior Jaden Bentz was also double figures in digs with 11.

Willer was pleased to see her entire team come together and battle through adversity in just their first game of the season.

“Coming back from a first set loss is no easy task, but we worked hard to focus on only one point at a time,” Willer said. “As the night went on, we really started to mesh better and better together, and we were able to capitalize on the opportunities in front of us thanks to the great energy in the gym. Our players on the court were fired up, our players on the bench were fired up, our younger players in the stands in the student section were fired up, and our parents/crowd really backed this team. 

“The comeback highlighted the tenacity and grit we know our players have, and we loved to see it showcased in the first game of the season. We have high hopes for what this team can do.”

Louisburg is back in action tonight as the Wildcats host De Soto and Olathe West in its home opener. First match is set for 5 p.m.