Multiple Commodores Turn In Career Matches In Five Set Loss To Edison State

October 20, 2023 - - The Lorain County Community College women's volleyball team dropped a heartbreaker to Edison State Community College Friday evening, losing in five sets, 3-2, with the fifth set going into overtime, 20-18.  In a contest of two evenly matched teams which featured back and forth battling, LCCC squandered a two set lead to the Chargers who swept the season series against the Commodores.

Top Commodores

Abbey Williams (North Ridgeville, Ohio/First Baptist Christian School) – 20 kills, .315 hitting

Josie Filice (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood HS) – 18 kills, .308 hitting, 9 digs

Maggie Riley (Elyria, Ohio/Midview HS) – 50 assists, 18 digs, 3 service aces

Izabel Gallardo-Santo Domingo (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria HS) – 45 digs

Nilaysia Todd (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) – 8 kills, 5 blocks (3 solo)

Recap

After Edison (21-6, 8-3) opened the scoring with a point in the first set, LCCC (7-9, 6-5) scored four times to gain the lead but it wouldn't last.  The Chargers came back to eventually tie the game at 6 and both teams battled until LCCC took the lead thanks to a serving error, 16-15.  Service aces from Todd and Jordan Rodriguez (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) plus two kills from Filice built the Commodore lead up to 22-18, but once again Edison chipped away. After a kill from the Chargers cut the lead to one and force an LCCC timeout, Riley took charge getting a kill and then assisted Williams' kill to finish the first set 25-22 in favor of the Commodores.  LCCC connected on 14 kills against just one error in the first set.

In the second set it was the Chargers who jumped out to the early lead, 7-2. However, LCCC used a 8-2 run of their own to take the lead starting with kills from Todd and Williams to get the Commodore rally started. Edison would fight back and hold a 19-17 lead when Williams got a kill and then Edison allowed LCCC to tie with an error.   LCCC trailed 21-20 when Filice got a kill to tie the game again.  A hitting error by the Chargers gave LCCC the lead and Gallardo-Santo Domingo padded that with an ace. Gabbie Barrison's (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) kill that located the back line put LCCC up 24-21.  But Edison crept close again, forcing a timeout with the score 24-23 until LCCC got the win when Edison hit the antenna on the next rally.

Everything went LCCC's way at the start of the third set.  They built a 9-4 lead early to force a timeout, then extended that lead to nine with 14-5 lead.  From there, Edison rattled off eight straight points to pull within one of the Commodore lead and force a timeout from Head Coach Ted Whitsel.  After the break, both teams traded points until Edison broke a 17-17 tie and used an 8-1 run to extend the contest.

Another solid start in the fourth set saw the Commodores go up 4-0 only to see Edison come back with five straight to take the lead and push out in front 8-5 to force an LCCC timeout.  It wouldn't help as Edison continued to pull away as the match wore on.  With an 18-13 advantage, Edison held off a late Commodore rally to force a fifth set.

The final set saw the Commodores in control for most of the frame starting with a block kill from Barrison which was accompanied with an ace by Gallardo-Santo Domingo to put LCCC out in front, 2-0.  A Charger serving error followed by some great defense at the net by Barrison and Todd pushed LCCC up 4-1.  Williams got four kills to put the Commodores up 10-6 until Edison tied it up at 13 and eventually came away with the win, 20-18. LCCC hit .200 as a team in the final set.

Notes

• Reigning OCCAC Libero of the Year Izabel Gallardo-Santo Domingo had a career-high 45 digs (LCCC record)
• Abbey Williams, who played in her first game since Sept. 22, had a career-high in kills with 20
• Maggie Riley had a career-high in assists with 50
• Josie Filice tied a career-high in kills with 18, the previous time coming against Edison State at home on Aug. 19, 2023
• Nilaysia Todd tied a season-high in blocks with 5 (three solo – also tied a season-high)
• LCCC hit .192 for the match
• LCCC had season-highs in kills, digs, blocks, and assists

Next Up

The Commodores will wrap up the regular season Saturday morning against Clark State Community College (14-7, 8-3) in Springfield, Ohio. LCCC lost to the Eagles on September 22 in four sets at home.