Commodores Escape Lakeland In Five Sets For Fifth Straight Win

September 30, 2024 - - The Lorain County Community College volleyball team earned their fifth straight win Monday after outlasting the Lakeland Community College Lakers in five sets.

LCCC (7-5, 5-1) knew it wouldn't be an easy road win given they needed four sets to defeat the Lakers (5-12, 1-6) at home on September 18.  The Commodores hit just .172 in the rematch and grinded out the win against a feisty Lakeland team.

Top Commodores

Isabella Beck (Wellington, Ohio/Wellington HS): 27 kills, .305 hitting, 16 digs

Gabriella Habeck (Huron, Ohio/Edison HS): 17 kills, .214 hitting, 16 digs, 2 blocks

Ava Haddix (Amherst, Ohio/Marion L. Steele HS): 56 assists, 19 digs, 6 service aces

Paige Grobolsek (Sheffield Village, Ohio/Brookside HS): 27 digs

Nilaysia Todd (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS): 5 kills, 4 blocks (one solo)

Teniya Jenkins (Cleveland, Ohio/Trinity HS): 11 kills, two blocks

Recap:

Trailing 24-20 in the first set, the Lakers used a 7-1 run to win in overtime 27-25. LCCC committed 11 errors and hit just .047 in the first set.  

But the Commodores responded by scoring the first four points of set two and held that lead until the Lakers fought back to tie things up at 15.  After trading scoring runs back and forth, both teams found themselves tied at 23 until Isabella Beck connected for a kill which was then followed by Gabriella Habeck's tip over the defense to take the second set for the Commodores.

The third set saw LCCC get out to an 11-6 lead and force Lakeland into a timeout.  The momentum continued for the Commodores as they stretched that lead to eight points, 19-11. Lakeland called another timeout in hopes of stopping the LCCC surge but the Commodores answered with six straight points to take the set, 25-11.

Attempts to take out the Lakers in the fourth set fell short as they jumped out to a commanding lead.  LCCC called a timeout trailing 18-12 and fought back to cut the deficit down to two points, 22-20.  However the Lakers regrouped and scored the next three points to get the win and force a fifth set.

Quickly, the Lakers took control.  They seized a 4-1 lead to force LCCC into a timeout. Habeck landed a kill coming out of the timeout to stop the bleeding but it didn't last for long as Lakeland continued the attack and built an 8-4 advantage. With the match on the line, the Commodores looked to two-time Ohio Community College Athletic Conference Player of the Week Beck who landed three kills which were followed up by two set overs by Ava Haddix to complete a 6-2 run and tie the match at 10.

Haddix assisted Jacqueline Augustine for a kill to put LCCC out in front but the Lakers answered right back with a kill of their own. A service ace on the next volley put Lakeland in the lead but they gave it right back with an attack that didn't get over the net.

Kaylynn Hannan set up Beck with a long assist on her kill which put the Commodores up 13-12 and Lakeland called time. Lakeland went long on an attack that put LCCC in the driver's seat and gave them match point. After Hannan dug out an attack by the Lakers, Haddix set up Beck for the kill and the win.

Notes:

• LCCC entered today's match ranked No. 15 in NJCAA DIII
• Despite Lakeland being an OCCAC member, Monday's match did not count toward conference standings.
• Ava Haddix had her third match in a row of 50+ kills
• Teniya Jenkins is starting to find her groove as she had 11 kills for the second time in the last three matches
• Isabella Beck followed up her season-high 23 kills against Owens last week with another 20+ kill performance Monday night
• Paige Grobolsek got 20+ digs for the fourth match in a row

Next Up:

LCCC will go for their sixth straight win on Friday when they host the Hocking College Hawks inside the Ewing Activities Center on Friday, October 4, 2024.  Match begins at 6 p.m. and will be streamed live on athletics.lorainccc.edu.

LCCC defeated Hocking in three sets to open up the season on August 24.