LHS Wins Twice at Malcolm (9-10-11)

Louisville Comeback Nets Win Over Clippers, 15-25, 25-19, 25-16
A game of contrasts?

Coming into the 9:00 a.m. match on Saturday, Malcolm brought an unblemished 4-0 record, a home court advantage, and knowledge that they had defeated Louisville in their season opener.

Louisville brought an hour-long early morning bus ride, a season opening loss to the Clippers, an unrehearsed line-up, a starter out taking the ACT test, and knowledge that they had not beaten Malcolm since 2008.

Malcolm started strong in the opening set behind the strong arms of outside hitters Alex Brockhaus and senior Holli Luff. Brockhaus registered an ace and four of her game high 10 kills in the opening minutes while Luff pounded three kills during the same stretch to force an early Lion time out at 7-11. Malcolm emerged unruffled and continued their offensive barrage in route to a 10 point margin in set one 15-25.

Set two was a refreshing contrast. Louisville six-footer Samantha Lane pounded two lasers on Madison Shephard’s opening feeds and senior Natalie Minchow punctuated the Lions 6-0 charge with three aces. That 6-point opening advantage would be the ending difference in the team’s 25-19 second set triumph. Louisville’s front line held Brockhaus and Luff to three kills while mounting a team offensive of 14 kills and 5 aces to even the match at one apiece.

Having taken a strong Milford team to three sets earlier in the tournament may have contributed to the poise shown by the Lions as they entered the third and deciding set against the undefeated Clippers. However, this game would end differently—it would be a contrast to the finish on Thursday evening.

Both teams traded points early in set three. With the score knotted at 11-11 the Lions began to pull away behind the strong charge of Samantha Lane who ignited the second set. Lane again paired with Shephard to pound consecutive kills and then added a solo block to move ahead 13-11. A Lion serving miscue would give the Clippers a point and the serve at 13-12. Three additional kills by Lane and a solo block by Morgan Dittberner would leave the Lions sitting pretty at 17-12 and any hope of Malcolm regaining the momentum behind. A team effort cinched the victory in the final stretch with Hannah Rose contributing an ace serve, Lane two kills, Minchow a dump set, Tori Dean a kill, Shepard two assists and Dittberner solo block which ended the set and match at 25-16.

“A win over Malcolm is huge….we have had a mental thing with playing them. The girls played as a team and it was great to see them smiling out there,” commented Coach Davenport.

An excited Samantha Lane shared after the game, “Playing Malcolm is like playing against ourselves….we play so much alike.”

The match concluded as a stark contrast to the opening set of the day and the opening match of the year. Louisville emerged victorious 15-25, 25-19, 25-16 with an impressive 6-2 record and some new found mental toughness having broken a three year stretch of seven straight losses to the Clippers.

Malcolm left their home court with their first loss and a few questions--one echoed by a Clipper fan, “what just happened?”

Malcolm (kills-aces-blocks): H. Luff 8-1-2, A. Brockhaus, 10-2-0, A. Wiebe 2-2-0, K. Locke 0-1-0, M. Carroll 1-0-0
Louisville (kills-aces-blocks): S. Lane 11-0-1, M. Zahn 0-1-0, T. Dean 6-0-2,
M. Shepard 1-2-0, J. Marcoe 1-0-0, N. Minchow 12-3-2, M. Dittberner 6-0-3,
H. Rose 0-2-0
Set assists: Shepard (20), Minchow (13)

Lions Sweep Cougars 25-12, 25-13
Louisville swept a two-set match 25-12, 25-13 against the Conestoga Cougars to complete pool play. Morgan Dittberner led the Lion attack with 8 kills and one block. Sophomore McKenna Zahn donned the libero jersey in the Lions modified line-up and contributed to the Lions defensive effort. Samantha Lane and Tori Dean chipped in six kills to give the Lions their seventh win of the season.

“We played with people in new positions on the court because Megan was out this morning," said Coach Davenport about senior hitter Megan Poland, absent due to taking the ACT Saturday morning. "I thought the girls responded well. Getting subs in is helpful and the girls are reacting well to their roles."

Conestoga (kills-aces-blocks): A. Burg 3-0-0, R. Morton 1-1-0, s. Morton 1-0-0, C. Topliff, 1-0-0, Rohlff 1-3-0
Louisville (kills-aces-blocks): S. Lane 6-0-0, M. Zahn 0-3-0, T. Dean 6-0-0,
M. Shepard 0-1-0, J. Marcoe 1-0-0, N. Minchow 2-3-0, M. Dittberner 8-0-1, M. Bauers, 0-0-0, H. Rose 0-0-0, L. Keiter 0-0-0, S. Dillon 0-0-0
Set assists: Shepard (6), Minchow (10)

Louisville Drops Third Place Match to Elmwood-Murdock 13-25, 19-25
Elmwood-Murdock flexed its muscle against the Lions and posted a 2-0 sweep to claim third place at the Malcolm Booster Tournament. Elmwood-Murdock, boasting an 8-3 record, rode the arm of returning all-stater Megan Schmale who finished the match with 13 kills.

The emergence of freshman hitter Hanna Justesen kept the Lions off balance and did not allow the Lion offense to calibrate. Junior Morgan Dittberner recorded four kills, an ace and two blocks to pace the Lions.

Louisville, now 7-3 on the season travels to Elkhorn South for a triangular on Tuesday, September 13th. The Lions open against the host Storm at 4:30 p.m.

Elmwood-Murdock (kills-aces-blocks): M. Schmale 13-1-2, E. Dwyer 0-1-0, T. Bornemeier 0-1-0, H. Justesen 8-2-0, J. Bowman 2-0-0, L. Bowman 0-0-0, L. Oehlerking 0-0-0, M. Scholting 0-0-0
Louisville (kills-aces-blocks): S. Lane 3-0-1, M. Zahn 0-0-0, T. Dean 1-0-0,
M. Shepard 3-1-0, J. Marcoe 0-0-0, N. Minchow 3-1-1, M. Dittberner 4-1-2, H. Rose 0-0-0
Set assists: Shepard (5), Minchow (9)

Statistics are unofficial.