The Lennox High School volleyball team had some solid performances this past week, finishing 2-1, maintaining their strong presence in the Region 4A. With an overall record of 8-6 and an impressive 5-0 in Region 4A, the Orioles continues to showcase their prowess on the court.
The week started on a high note as Lennox hosted Tea Area in a thrilling showdown on Monday, Sept. 25 that ended in a 3-1 victory. The scores were tight at 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-13.
“The ladies came out swinging aggressively. Dani [Highum] led the team with 18 kills, while Carli [Kuyper] added 9 and Libby [Kranz] 7. Our offense was very well-rounded as each of the six primary hitters had strong hitting percentages,” said LHS head coach Vanessa Gabel.
Both Lennox setters, Lilly Meyer and Ella Grengs, had 17 assists. New to the varsity libero position, Andi Peters, had 17 digs. Meyer led the team serving with three aces.
“I was very happy how our junior setters moved the sets around. It helped keep the Tea blockers and defense on the heels,” said Gabel. “A run of missed serves kept Tea in the match longer than they should have been.”
Lennox carried their winning momentum into an away game against Beresford on Tuesday, Sept. 26, where they took a convincing 3-0 victory with scores of 25-12, 25-11, 25-14.
“Another well-rounded offensive attack spread the kills evenly across the outside, middle and right side hitters,” said Gabel.
Kills were led by outside hitter, Highum and right side hitter, Grengs, with nine each. Meyer led assists with 17, as well as aces, with four.
“The match was pretty lop-sided, which can make it difficult for athletes to play their own game,” said Gabel. “The girls stayed focused and worked on their personal goals. Sophomore defensive specialists, Andie Peters and Mia Hanisch, both did really well with serve receive ratings of 2.39 and 2.83 (out of 3) respectively. Ella led the team with 13 digs.”
The week concluded with a challenging road trip to face Dell Rapids, who entered the match with a 13-4 record on Thursday, Sept. 28. Unfortunately, it was a tough serve receive night for the Lennox.
“We really struggled with getting quality serve receive passes into our setters’ hands, which then trickled down to not having quality attacks from our side of the court,” said Gabel.
Lennox suffered 0-3 defeat with scores of 16-25, 15-25, 16-25. Kuyper and Kranz led in the kill department with four each, and Meyer recorded nine assists.
The Orioles were scheduled to host Parker on Tuesday, Oct. 3 and will be at home Oct. 9 against Garretson. The team will be on the road on Oct. 10 when they take on Dakota Valley.