The Langford Area volleyball squad kicked off its 2026 campaign with three wins in four outings during the past week.
The Lady Lions stopped Waverly-South Shore in four sets in the season opener last week Tuesday and then took two of three in a tournament in Estelline on Saturday, sweeping Wilmot and Waverly-South Shore and falling to Estelline-Hendricks in three sets after taking the opening set.
“It was nice to get a season opener win but Waverly-South Shore battle-tested us right out of the gate,” said LA coach Susan Larson. “Along with aggressiveness can come aggressive errors. I love our aggressiveness at the net, but we will be working on our hitting the next few days. Thirty-three hitting errors is just too many. But overall, I was very pleased with our play. The girls kept their focus and fought back after a really close loss in the third set.”
Larson was happy with her team’s performance in Saturday’s tournament.
“It was a great day! We lost a really close match to a good team in Estelline Hendricks, but the girls didn’t let that slow them down. They bounced back to best Wilmot and then Waverly-South Shore. I thought we played pretty consistently. I really like their aggressiveness on every ball and thought they really played aggressively when we were out of system. I’m proud of their performance.”
The Lady Lions played at Leola-Frederick last night Tuesday, host Northwestern on Thursday, and play at Aberdeen Christian on Tuesday.
LA 25-25-28-25
Waverly-SS 12-23-30-22
Langford Area opened its fall season with a hard-fought win over Waverly-South Shore.
The Lady Lions pounded down 29 kills, led by Lizzie Gustafson with eight and Emily Olson and Josie Vander Vorst with six each. Bailey Dwight dished out 18 assists and Gustafson added 24 digs.
Estelline Tourney
Estelline.-Hend. 23-25-25
LA 25-20-23
The Lady Lions took the opening set but Estelline-Hendricks battled back with wins in a pair of nail-biters to take the match.
Gustafson had 10 kills and Olson eight as LA again came up with 29 kills . Bailey Dwight had 15 assists and eight digs.
LA 25-25
Wilmot 16-11
LA rolled to a sweep over Wilmot.
Olson and Bailey Dwight were both perfect at the service line and combined for seven aces. Dwight also led with six assists and 12 digs.
LA 25-25
Waverly-SS 16-19
Langford Area dominated Waverly-South Shore after going four sets in the regular season opener.
Gustafson again led at the net with eight kills and also led in the dig department with 14. Brooklynn West contributed 11 assists.
FOR FULL STATS, SEE THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL
