LHS volleyball team takes fourth at Conference Tournament

The Lennox High School Oriole volleyball went into the DAK XII Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 18 as a fourth-place seed. 

Lennox’s first match-up was against fifth seed West Central. 

In their two previous match-ups this season, Lennox was the victor. 

This time was no different as Lennox won the match 25-14, 25-27 and 25-15. 

Next up at the Tournament was top seed and top ranked in the state for A, Dakota Valley who Lennox lost to earlier in the week. 

The match started out really close, with Lennox winning the first set 25-21. In set two, junior middle blocker, Mallorie Bittner, went down with a sprained ankle. 

“It’s always a mental hurdle for teams to get past when one of their starters not only gets hurt but then has to stay out with the injury,” said LHS head coach Vanessa Gabel. 

The Orioles lost set two 14-25. 

“Between sets I was able to do some shifting of positions, moving Addison Martz from the right side into the middle. She played middle blocker for us since her freshman year and she stepped up to the situation and did great. To fill her right side position, I put in freshman, Bergan Musser,” said Gabel. “She hasn’t gotten any real time with varsity this season but obviously we know what she can do during practice. She handled the pressure, putting away two of her three sets for kills and got a block. This was Dakota Valley she was tested against. No easy feat for sure. I was impressed.” 

The third set was tight again but Lennox ended up on the losing side, 22-25. 

The loss put the Lady O’s in the third place match against Sioux Falls Christian where they ended up losing 18-25 and 18-25, giving them fourth place at the Conference Tournament. 

“The DAK XII is easily the toughest conference in the state. There were five of the top teams in the state there on Saturday. Each of these teams ended up finishing where they were seeded, so there weren’t any surprises at the end of the long day,” said Gabel. “Like I’ve told the girls since day one, our ability to make it to state at the end of the season is going to come down to the post-season play. We’re going to have to get past either Dakota Valley or Sioux Falls Christian that last week. I believe we can beat either of these teams.”

Libby Kranz had a great day, finishing the tournament with 31 kills. Rylee Hedin got 15 kills. Sydney Johnson got seven blocks. Andie Peters got 51 digs. Hannah Adney got four aces and Catie Sherard had 43 assists.

On Saturday, Oct. 11, the Orioles took on Pierre and lost 1-3 (23-25, 25-20, 22-25, 19-25).

Kranz had 19 kills, two aces and 12 digs against Pierre. Bittner finished with nine kills and three blocks. Peters had 17 digs. Sherard had 12 digs, two aces and 22 set assists. Adney recorded two aces.

On Monday, Oct. 13 the Orioles took on Garretson and won, 0-3 (25-14, 25-12, 25-14).

Kranz had 10 kills in the match. Hedin finished with eight kills and three blocks. Martz had eight kills. Johnson finished with aces, Amelya Meyer had three blocks; Bittner also had three blocks; Adney had 17 assists; and Peters finished with 10 digs. 

On Tuesday, Oct. 14 the Orioles took on Dakota Valley on the road where they lost 0-3 (16-25, 13-25, 19-25).

Against Dakota Valley, Kranz had 11 kills and nine digs. Johnson finished with five kills and four blocks. Martz had three blocks; Sherard had 15 set assists and eight digs; Peters had eight digs as well and Adney had one ace. 

Lennox will host Baltic on Friday, Oct. 24 with the varsity scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Lennox will be home again on Monday, Oct. 27 when they take on Sioux Falls Christian in the final regular season game. Regions begin on Nov. 4.