Archive: Sports

Lansing closed out its regular season with a perfect 14-0 record, won the first two sets of the 10/31 IAC championship match against Tioga 25-19, 25-22, and then faltered, losing the last three sets 17-25, 21-25, and 18-25.

In the first set, the advantage shifted from Lansing to Tioga and back to Lansing.  The set was tied at 15-15, after which Lansing racked up 10 points to Tioga’s four.  As usual, multiple players greased the team machine.  Blair Wigsten, Kari Fenner, Tory Cutting, and Amber Howser contributed kills, Kristen Beyea a block, and Fenner an ace.  Sophomore Wigsten’s momentum carried into the second set, when she added three more kills, as did Beyea.  Cutting threw up the first two of her seven blocks.  Lansing led throughout the set, despite allowing dropped balls by the net and the backcourt line – errors that would prove costly later in the match.

Tioga dominated in the third set, sustaining a sizeable point differential.  Lansing was plagued by offensive errors and donated 10 points by spiking out or into the net.  The Bobcat effort picked up in the fourth set, however coordination fell short of what was needed to counter Tioga’s versatile attack.

The last set started auspiciously, with a kill by Breanna Brann and a Howser block.  Both teams mobilized to keep the ball in play through lengthy rallies that pushed the limits of Lansing’s illness-riddled team.  The score seesawed until it reached 8-8.  Then Tioga’s power hitting took its toll.  Tioga’s lead stretched to four points, then back to one, seven points, and then back to four.  When the crunch came, the Lansing team had always rallied to pull off a win.  Not this day.  Tioga finished the set with a seven-point spread, winning the match 3-2.

For Lansing, Wigsten and Cutting each had six kills, Beyea four, and Fenner and Howser three.  Beyea, Wigsten, and Howser also had two blocks each.  Lansing’s libero Nicolo Gentile led in digs, followed by Fenner with 16, Howser 15, Niki Gain 11, Sunah Bong seven, Beyea six, and Nicole Washburn four.  Fenner had 12 assists and Taylor Bandler 11.  Fenner had three aces, Brann and Howser two each, and Bandler and Cutting one each.

Lansing will have an opportunity for a rematch against Tioga in Sectional play at Horseheads on November 5th.  With the team’s return to good health and some changes, Coach O’Brien looks forward to the team putting it all together.  “This team deserves a chance to move on.” 

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