LHS volleyball team takes on top team in Class A

On Thursday, Oct. 2 the Lennox High School volleyball team traveled to Dell Rapids to take on the #1 seed in Class A. 

Lennox went into the match with an undefeated record of 19-0. 

“There were a lot of nerves coming from the girls but were overshadowed by the excitement from getting ready to be a tough match,” said LHS head coach Vanessa Gabel. 

The match started a little shaky with two missed serves in a row. The Lady O’s were able to refocus and start playing their game with strong attacks while combating Dell Rapids’ game. Dell Rapids’ big hitter,  Madelynn Henry, junior, has already signed with Oregon. She was a force at the net and service line, ending up with 22 kills and nine aces. 

“It’s really hard to prepare to play an athlete like that. We don’t have anyone who can hit at us or serve at us like Henry does,” said Gabel.  

After dropping the first set, 17-25, the Orioles came back strong in the second set. Libby Kranz really started putting away her sets and that’s also about the time Mallorie Bittner started putting away some quick middle attacks. 

“We just can’t run our middles like we want to unless we can get some solid passes coming out of the back row. Andie Peters and Addy Stucky started giving the setters some solid passes and the team followed through with kills,” Gabel added. 

Lennox won set two, 25-20. Set three was the flip side of set two. The team just couldn’t put a pass together with a set and hit to get side outs. 

“I’m just glad we put all the bad touches into this one set. Got them out of the way,” said Gabel. 

Lennox lost set three, 9-25. 

“I was worried how the girls would handle set four after that really bad loss. They could roll over and be done with it or they could fight back. They fought back,” Gabel added. 

Set four was the tightest set of the night, with a lot of back and forth. 

“In set four, our right side hitters stepped up. Addison Martz got two blocks and Jersie Hostetler added three kills,” said Gabel. 

The Orioles ended up losing the set, 21-25. 

“I was really proud of how the girls played. This was our first true test of the season. Dells is the reigning state champions. They are a fantastic team. Our girls played like they’re going to need to if they want a chance at getting back to state this year,” said Gabel. 

Against Dell Rapids, Kranz finished the night with ten kills, 11 digs, and two blocks. Peters had 12 digs and Catie Sherard had 15 set assists. Martz had two blocks in the match and Sydney Johnson had two aces. 

Prior to the game against Dell Rapids, Lennox hosted Tea Area on Sept. 29, winning 3-0 (25-9 25-20, 25-18) over the Class AA team; and traveled to Beresford on Tuesday, Sept. 30 winning 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-21).

Against Tea Area, Kranz finished with 11 kills and eight digs. Hannah Adney had five aces and 18 set assists. Rylee Hedin had nine kills; Peters added nine digs and Mallory Bittner had three blocks. 

Against Beresford, Hedin finished with ten kills. Kranz’s stat line was seven kills, five digs, and six aces. Peters had nine digs on the night and Adney had 19 set assists. Bittner had three blocks in the match. 

The volleyball team will host Pierre T.F. Riggs on Saturday, Oct. 11 in a 2:30 p.m. match. On Monday, Oct. 13 the team hosts Garretson in a 7 p.m. match and on Tuesday, Oct. 14 they will travel to Dakota Valley for a 7 p.m. match.