The volleyball team had a busy weekend recently, playing two tough Midwest Conference matches. Their first game was on Friday, Oct. 25, as the Vikings headed to Monmouth to take on the Scots at Glennie Gymnasium.
Lawrence’s attack was led by sophomore Terese Swords, who had 14 kills. Swords has consistently been at the top of the pack in kills, often giving Lawrence an edge on the attack. Also helping out with the offensive attack was fellow sophomore Andrea Wilkinson and junior Kayla Storm, contributing six kills apiece. In the assist department, the Vikes were lead by senior setter Diana McLeod, who offered up 28 assists throughout the game.
On the defensive end, senior Kathleen Rowland played another amazing game, with 21 digs for the Vikings. Losing the first two games to Monmouth, the Vikes were down but not out. They were able to come back and win in the third set. But, unable to hold on, Lawrence dropped the fourth set due to an inability to keep up their offensive game. Leading the Scots was senior setter Mollie Murdock with 41 assists and freshman hitter Lorin Pedersoli with 12 kills. The final scores for the games were as follows: 25-17, 25-16, 24-26 and 25-14.
The Vikings did not have time to dwell on the loss as the very next day, Saturday, Oct. 26, they headed to Knox to play the Prairie Fire at Memorial Gymnasium. Storm played a fantastic game, to say the least. She pounded out 14 kills, with only one attacking error in 26 attempts. This gave her a .500 hitting average on the afternoon, an incredible accomplishment. Assisting in the attack was Swords and sophomore Megan Conley, with seven and six kills respectively. As a team, Lawrence hit .254, an impressive statistic. McLeod recorded 24 assists in the game and was also a successful server, finishing with four aces. Rowland again played spectacular defense and picked up 17 digs for the Vikings.
Knox put up a fight, as senior hitter Kaylie Price contributed nine kills and freshman defender Madison Pierro added a match-high 18 digs. However, the Vikings were able to shut Knox down in all three matches (25-23, 25-11, 25-16), coming home with a great conference win.
This weekend, the Vikings will head to Benedictine University to take part in the Benedictine Invitational. Joining them will be Carthage College, Elmhurst College and North Central College. The Vikings have four tough non-conference games to play, taking on Carthage and Elmhurst on Friday, Nov. 1 and North Central and Benedictine University on Saturday, Nov. 2.