LINGLE – The WyoPreps.com Class 1A No. 1-ranked Southeast High School volleyball team won three straight sets to sweep the Lingle-Fort Laramie High School on Tuesday evening.
The visiting Lady Cyclones scored seven of the first eight points of the match, but the Lady Doggers weren’t going to go away quietly.
LFL chipped away at the deficit. A pair of serving aces from Lady Dogger Natalie Speckner cut the Southeast lead to 12-15, but it wasn’t until an attack error by the Lady Cyclones tied the match at 15 apiece.
On the ensuing point, LFL sophomore Brenly Shipp gave her team a 16-15 lead with a kill, capping off a 7-0 Lady Dogger run.
A kill from Southeast senior Brenna Herring slowed the Lingle run, but it wasn’t until a pair of attack errors by the home team pushed the Lady Cyclones back into the lead at 20-18.
Southeast capped off the set, scoring five of the final seven points.
In the second set, it was all the Lady Cyclones.
Lingle kept the set close for a while. With Southeast leading 8-7, sophomore Brooklyn Leithead threw down a kill, and Herring followed with a block. It was the start of an 8-1 run as Southeast pulled away over the remainder of the set to take a 2-0 set lead.
In the third set, senior Kamryn Rafferty’s kill and another ace by Speckner gave the Lady Doggers a 2-0 lead.
LFL led 5-3 but back-to-back net errors by the Lady Doggers tied the set at five. It aided a 5-0 Southeast spurt which put the Lady Cyclones back in front.
It was a lead which the visitors never surrendered for the remainder of the match to complete the sweep.
Southeast was led by Anderson with 10 kills, while Herring had eight kills and two blocks. Carson and Ekwall had seven kills each. Booth recorded 15 assists, while Herring added 10. Carson led the team with 20 digs.
Lingle was led by Speckner and Shipp with six kills apiece. Speckner served up the team’s lone three aces, and Rafferty tallied a team-high four solo blocks. Hattan led the team with 13 digs, while Foster added 12.
The win improved Southeast to 12-5 on the season, while the loss drops the Lady Doggers to 11-9-1.
Southeast travels to Kaycee Friday and Saturday for the 1A Jamboree.
Lady Doggers finish second in Morrill, Nebraska
Over the weekend, LFL brought home a second-place finish at the Morrill Invite.
In the opening round match against Crawford, Nebraska, the Lady Doggers overcame a 19-10 in the first set to a winless Lady Ram team before winning 25-21 and 25-18.
Freshman Hallie Fuller kill sparked the rally in the first set. LFL went on to score 15 of the final 17 points of the set.
In the second set, Crawford hung around within three points for much of the set, but senior Ashlee Hattan served up back-to-back aces to secure the sweep.
Hattan ended the match with four aces. Speckner tallied a team-high six kills, while Shipp had five. Junior Leah Foster dished out seven assists and recorded a team-high three blocks.
In the semifinal round, the Lady Doggers dropped the first set to Sioux County (Nebraska) and had to overcome a double-digit deficit in the second set to keep their championship hopes alive in the 21-25, 25-23, 25-13 victory.
The Lady Warriors scored the first point and never trailed in the first set, and in the second, fell behind 21-10 before storming back to win the set 25-23.
In the final set, LFL raced out to a 7-2 lead and cruised to the 12-point set win.
Foster and Rafferty led the Lady Doggers with seven kills, while Speckner had six. Lingle served up 13 aces, including three from freshman Skyla Wunder, senior Baylee Skinner and Foster. Wunder and Foster also had 11 assists each.
In the championship match against tournament host Morrill, the Lady Doggers fell 25-20, 25-20.
Speckner had five kills, while Shipp added four. Rafferty led the team with two solo blocks. Foster handed out 10 assists, while Hattan had 13 digs.
The Lady Doggers host Guernsey-Sunrise Vikings at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13.
