Chieftains square off with tough week’s opponents
By Ginna Young
It was a long week for the Lake Holcombe volleyball squad, with a Homecoming match and weekend tournament.
Sept. 20 vs. Winter conference (L 3-0)
To begin the week, Lake Holcombe traveled to Winter, for a showdown with the Warriors.
The first sets were close, but the Chieftains saw the matches go to Winter, 25-20. The third set wasn’t as close, which Winter took, 25-17.
Leading on kills, was senior Karly Kirkman, with 6, while sophomore Abby Jones recorded 14 assists. Junior Ella Hartzell led in digs, with 25, and Kirkman ended with 3 blocks.
“Passing was phenomenal tonight, as the girls put up great digs off hard hit balls,” said coach Beth Meddaugh. “I was proud of the girls for hanging right with this very tough team. Now we focus our efforts on learning how to close out a set and match.”
Sept. 22 vs. Birchwood conference (W 3-1)
Partway through the week, the Chieftains hosted Birchwood, in a gym filled with Homecoming spirit.
Lake Holcombe took the first set, 25-21, but the Bobcats bounced back to win the second set, 25-22. The Chieftains refused to concede the match and claimed the third set, 2516, followed by the fourth set, 25-20.
Kirkman had 12 kills, while junior Emma Lechleitner had 8. Jones came up with 15 assists, followed by senior Hannah Wincek, with 12, and sophomore Emmy Kirkman, with 11. Lechleitner finished with 7 blocks, and Hartzell had 22 digs, along with E. Kirkman’s 17.
“The girls responded well to a line-up change mid-match and passing was very good again tonight,” said Meddaugh. “It was nice to get another win on the board.”
Sept. 24 vs. Eleva-Strum non-conference (L 2-0) Traveling to Eleva-Strum over the weekend, the Chieftains had some difficulties against the teams they faced. First up, was the host team Eleva, where Lake Holcombe saw the sets go by the wayside, 25-15 and 25-21.
Sept. 24 vs. Elmwood-Plum City non-conference (L 2-0) Next on the agenda, was Elmwood-Plum City. The Chieftains again watched the sets go to their opponents, 25-15 and 25-12.
Sept. 24 vs. Augusta non-conference (W 2-1)
Augusta was next for Lake Holcombe, where the Chieftains dropped the first set, 25-14. They rallied in the second set to claim a 27-25 victory, then pulled out a 15-10 win in the third set.
“The girls played hard for most of the day,” said Meddaugh. “They were able to do a pretty good job of keeping up to the bigger teams that we played.”
Sept. 24 vs. Thorp non-conference (L 2-0)
The Chieftains then faced off with Thorp, but couldn’t muster a win, dropping the sets, 25-17 and 25-13.
Sept. 24 vs. Osseo-Fairchild non-conference (L 2-0)
The final match of the day was against Osseo-Fairhcild, but again, Lake Holcombe coulnd’t pull off the victory. They saw the sets go to the Thunder, 25-17 and 25-11.
Junior Ava Story had 51 digs on the day, followed by Hartzell, with 40. K. Kirkman had 15 kills, and Story and Lechlietner ended with 12. Wincek racked up 27 assists in the tournament.
“There was a lot of good skill building that happened and we were able to test players in different line-up combinations,” said Meddaugh. “Overall, it was a good day.”
