August 27, 2016 - - Taking the easy road to nationals is not on the agenda for 3rd year coach and the Lady Commodores of Lorain County Community College. After placing 2nd at the D3 NJCAA tournament in 2014 and 5th place in 2015, Coach Whitsel knows how important their regular season is. "We're a D3 program playing D2 schools, our season really is a prep for our regional and national tournaments." said Coach Whitsel after today's tri-match.
In the Commodores season opener, they hosted Division II schools Mercyhurst NE and Schoolcraft out of Michigan. After sweeping the Saints of Mercyhurst NE, the Lady Commodores couldn't find a way to slow down the Ocelots of Schoolcraft.
First game jitters made the first set against the Saints very interesting as both teams came out of the gates very slow. With the strong play from first year player, Kellie Warren from Clearview High School, the Commodores were able to keep the lead the entire set. Warren chipped in 10 kills against the Saints and had a total of 23 attack attempts.
With a 19-5 lead, LCCC started to calm their nerves and started to eliminate the mistakes they were making. Forcing the Saints to play at a faster speed, LCCC took their 19-5 lead and closed out on a big run that won them the set 25-18. "We did an awesome job covering against Mercyhurst, we played well against them today." said returning starter Maryssa Kellick from Elyria Catholic.
Taking that momentum into set two, the Commodores jumped out to an early lead of 9-2 but the mental mistakes started to appear again. Going deeper in his bench, Coach Whitsel gave his team multiple looks.
Unable to break away, LCCC relied on their net covering to give them separation and close out set 2 by a score of 25-18. Much was the same in the final set of the game as the leadership of Kellick helped LCCC sweep the Saints with a 22-15 score. The leadership of Kellick showed as she matched the intensity of Warren with 10 kills of her own and 23 total attacks.
Outside of Warren and Kellick, Ali Stanziano came up big with 11 digs while Shannon Reaser came up with 26 aces.
Unfortunately for LCCC, things didn't carry over to their 3:00pm game against Schoolcraft as they were swept 25-18, 25-11, and 25-18. Kellick was upset afterwards but understood how important it is to bounce back from games like this. "Schoolcraft ran more of a fast tempo offense and we struggled with covering because we couldn't get there fast enough. Luckily we practice with guys so they just come in and beat up the ball." Kellick said after playing Schoolcraft.
For the Commodores, the most intense moments came midway through the 3rd set, as LCCC was able to put Schoolcraft on their heels a bit. With the game nodded at 13, LCCC strung together a nice run. With Schoolcraft settling down, LCCC dropped the 3rd set 25-18 and loss the match 3-0.
Box Score vs Mercyhurst NE
Box Score vs Schoolcraft
Video Highlights/Interviews:
https://youtu.be/CNFmpJtcr1g
