Improved Athletics push Burros to the brink in four-game loss

Published 10:09 pm Tuesday, September 10, 2024

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LYLE – The Lyle-Pacelli volleyball team may be young and shorthanded, but the Athletics gave the Burros all they could handle in a 25-23, 22-25, 25-16, 25-22 loss in Lyle Tuesday night.

The Athletics (2-11 overall) held a lead in every game, and games one, two and four were all nail-biters that went back and forth. L-P head coach Faith King was pleased with how her team battled, especially since freshman setter Autumn Drennan was out with an injury that she is expected to bounce back from on Thursday.

“I was really, really proud with how the girls executed and the bench was engaged,” King said. “It was really a team effort to come in and get a good shot at them. I’m bummed we don’t play them again at full power, but I’m really proud of what we were able to do against them shorthanded tonight.”

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L-P led 18-12 in the first game, before Lanesboro’s Jensyn Storhoff served six straight points to tie it up. Ava Rein eventually slammed down a block kill to end that game. In the third game, L-P trailed 20-17 before freshman Jada Leif served an ace to put L-P up 23-22.

“Jada Leif has stepped in after not serving two years,” King said. “That made it really possible for people to play their usual positions. Marlie (Klankowski) has stepped into Jada’s spot and she’s done a great job of doing whatever she can to help out.”

L-P led the final game 12-9 and 19-18 before the Burros (5-0 overall) pulled away late. The match certainly served as a major learning experience for a team that had just one senior and one sophomore on the court. Audrey Wilde, who had 10 kills, was the sophomore who is now thrust into a leadership role.

“Our team has gotten better at playing with pressure. We lost our setter and it’s different, but we’re learning to pick things up and work together. We could’ve won this one and there are little things we can still work on,” Wilde said. “I’ve learned a lot playing with a younger team. I feel like a leader on the court; we have a really good team and these girls are getting a lot better. They have potential and really enjoy playing with them.I could tell from our first game that this would be a good season, and it’s been a good season.”

Marlie Klankowski, who is an eighth-grader, added five kills and 12 digs. She said that L-P made its push towards improvement while playing together this past summer and she’s confident those improvements will continue.

“Our club season helped us because a lot of us middle schoolers played over the summer and we’re definitely developing for future years and even this year,” Klankowski said. “Our teammates build us up and we always count on each other. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for your teammates.”

King said that she will continue to aim for improvement with the team as it grows throughout the season.

“We’re trying to find the winning mentality because it’s something we haven’t had in the past,” King said. “We’re finding how to balance our strengths and weaknesses and we’ve had some heart to heart talks with the team to see where everyone personally fits in with their role so we can be the best team possible.”

L-P stats: Audrey Wilde, 10 kills, 4 aces, 1 dig; Morgan Klankowski, 4 kills, 1 dig, 1 block; Jada Leif, 22 set assists, 5 aces, 2 digs, 0.5 blocks; Jacey Bednar, 6 kills, 7 digs; Grace Bauer, 5 kills, 3.5 blocks; Carleigh Rymer, 1 kill, 1 set assist, 15 digs; Josey Bednar, 1 set assist, 7 digs; Marlie Klankowski, 5 kills, 3 aces, 12 digs