The Langford Area volleyball team picked up a pair of wins in six starts during the past week to stand at 3-7 for the season.
Those two wins were in a tournament at Wolsey-Wessington on Saturday, but the highlight of the week was a five-set epic battle with cross-county rival Britton-Hecla on Monday. The Lady Lions rebounded from an opening-set loss to take the next two, including a 27-25 win in the third set. LA had chances to get the win in set four but the Lady Braves outlasted the Lady Lions 30-28 before taking the final set 15-9.
“What a great night of volleyball,” said LA coach Susan Larson. “Of course a victory would have made it even better but girls on both sides of the net battled hard and never gave up. The third and fourth sets could have gone either way several times.
“I am really proud of the way we played last night. The fought back after the losing the first set and played scrappy defense and tough offense. We served consistently and when we attacked the ball we were pretty successful. Lizzie (Gustafson) and Emily (Olson) did a great job of keeping the ball in play and attacking the ball when they could. Our setters worked hard trying to deliver the right sets to all their hitters. Despite having to take the loss, it was a great night to coach a team that worked their tails off trying to win.”
B-H 25-19-25-30-15
LA 13-25-27-28-9
Emily Olson pounded 17 kills and had seven blocks and four aces to lead the LA attack
Flor.-Henry 25-25-18-25
LA 16-11-25-19
Langford Area battled back from a 2-0 deficit by taking the third set but fell to Florence-Henry in four sets.
“We got off to a slow start,” said Larson. “We just couldn’t find a rhythm or get into system. By the third set things changed around for us and we started to find our footing. Once we got our attack game going, things picked up. I’m very proud of the way we played our last two sets. We have some defensive things to clear up and we need to focus on our passing game. When we pass well, everything else falls into place.”
Emily Olson had a big night at the net with 10 kills and four blocks. Lizzie Gustafson had three service aces and 19 digs, and Paytyn Marlow had 19 digs.
FOR ALL THE VOLLEYBALL ACTION, SEE THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL
