Volleyballers prepare for postseason

By Brodee Gillam

Sports Editor

The LCC volleyball squad dropped the ball against Jackson College on Oct. 12. After being up 2-0, the Stars lost the match 17-25, 15-25, 25-23, 26-24, 15-11.

The loss dropped the Stars to a 15-14 overall through Oct. 18.

LCC Head Coach Emily Quintero said the loss was "unexpected" and hurt the Stars chances to move into fourth place.

During its trip to Catawba Valley CC in Hickory, N.C., for the CVCC Invitational, the Stars split four matches, including a four-and-a-half hour match.

LCC Head Coach Emily Quintero said the trip helped the team's growth tremendously, even among travel issues.

"It was a phenomenal tournament (with) great competition," Quintero said. "There was a lot of top-rate teams there. It was great to see teams outside of our normal Michigan (and) Ohio teams. So they got to watch some good play and got to perform in some good play.

"... For rapport, it really did great things, we just overlooked our match on (Oct. 12)."

Sophomore Kaycee Richmond, who had 10 kills on 19 attempts against Jackson CC, said the experience helped weather this team for the postseason hardship.

"(The trip) kind of gives us the upper hand," Richmond said. "We've conditioned to go for long rallies and sets to five. Teams … have been beating teams in three (games) all along, so they are kind of just trained for three when we can go to the extra five."

Freshman Erin Cooper said the team's confidence and positivity is crucial to its success moving forward.

"Our biggest hurdle is going to be knowing we can do it," Cooper said. "A lot of times we go into games and we're like 'Oh, they're going to beat us,' and then we shut down. So I think once we get to that point we have to really push ourselves to get through it."

The Stars' last regular season home match is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 24 in the Gannon Gym at 6:30 p.m.