Volleyballers bounce back after early struggles

By Brodee Gillam

Sports Editor

No team wants to start a season with an 0-3 record.

Winning four of the next five matches is a good way to bounce back from that, and that's what the LCC volleyball team recently did.

The fourth win was against Ancilla College on Sept. 5, 25-18, 28-26, 25-23. The win improved the Stars' record to 4-4 overall and to 1-3 in the MCCAA West.

This streak of success is exactly how the Stars needed to respond to the early season struggles. Entering the season with only four returning players, a few stretches of adversity were to be expected.

LCC Volleyball Head Coach Emily Quintero said, in these first few games, she has seen the freshman expanding their games already.

"Our freshmen have definitely stepped into roles," Quintero said. "(They) maybe are not comfortable (with the roles) but they definitely have stepped up to the plate to take a challenge."

Freshman setter Jazlynn Maxon is one of the players Quintero was talking about. With 47 assists in the win against Ancilla and 248 in her first eight contests, Maxon is showing a lot of promise.

Maxon said she knows how important communication can be to establish a good team on offense and defense.

"Without it, even in some drills in practice, we can't get through (them) without talking," Maxon said. "So then it carries over in a game, we can't get through a long rally without talking."

Sophomore hitter Kaycee Richmond, who had 21 kills against the Chargers, said she sees the versatility of the Stars' offense and defense giving opponents problems moving forward.

"We're trying new things," Richmond said. "We're being more versatile than just doing what we are comfortable with.

"The (opposing) team just expects the basics. But when we step out of our comfort zones, we're doing things not even we expect ourselves to do."

The Stars' next home game is scheduled to be against the Jackson College Jets in the Gannon Gym at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 12.