From the Stands: Division III State Championship Recap

Rachel Kass November 5, 2018 @ 11:39 AM

Lake Country Lutheran won the state championship last year and was back this year looking for a repeat! They played Stratford who had an amazing (and quite unheard of) undefeated season going into this championship match. It was high stakes for both teams and they battled head to head for the entire match. Lake Country Lutheran came out on top in a 5 set match. Stratford took sets 1 and 4 with Lake Country winning the rest. The rallies in this match were extremely long and they both teams played amazing. Junior setter Alayna Ritter was definitely the backbone of this team. She moved the ball extremely well and hustled for everything. She played all 6 rotations as a setter and knew each one of her hitters very well. Alayna’s grit and leadership were instrumental in the teams win over Stratford. Jennifer O’Keefe, a senior outside hitter had 22 kills for the Lightning along with 3 block assists. Her consistency and placement of the ball were awesome and she truly provided leadership for her teammates, especially in how she played. Junior libero Rylee Vaughn really impressed me. The Stratford team was scrappy and hard to defend, but Rylee was up to the challenged and did it extremely well. Her serve receive was impressive and very consistent. Both middles, senior Breanna Pape and junior Gaby Garcia had 15 kills with very few errors. Their hitting percentages were 0.355 and 0.480 respectively. Together they brought in 6 blocks for the lightning. Both were strong forces on the court and took advantage of every opportunity given to them. Going into this match Stratford was undefeated and everyone in the crowd found out why. Their team was scrappy and made very few mistakes. They were almost impossible to pound a ball on as every tip, swing, and service had a playable touch on it. Their play wasn’t always pretty but it worked and it was effective. It was fun watching them play and they definitely battled tooth and nail for every single point. Mazie Nagel was a powerhouse for the Tigers. She had 18 kills, 4 aces, and 22 digs. Whether she was in the front row or back, on offense or defense, Mazie played consistent and without any hesitation. This senior will definitely be missed next year. Senior setter Jadyn Dahlke had 22 assists and was all over the court. The scrappiness of the defense meant Jadyn was on the go a lot of the game, but she was quick and able to make a play out of almost anything. On the defense side, junior libero McKenna Krall was so impressive. Nothing touched the ground without her touching it first, and rarely was a ball not playable. She flew across the court and read hits extremely well. She was fun to watch and is a great player. This match was the only championship match across all of the divisions to go to 5 sets. Both teams excelled at different things and each rally was long and competitive. It was so fun to watch and a great accomplishment for both teams!