Lady Cougars Lose Heartbreaking Opening Match

By Clare Wiltse, Sports Contributor

It was a heartbreaking evening for the Lady Cougars as they lost their opening match to West Point-Beemer in five sets  The two teams were evenly matched with close contests in each set.  West Point won the opening set with a 25-22 score.  LDNE took the second and third 27-25 and 25-17.  The Cadets recovered to take the fourth set 25-22.  In the speed round WP-B came out on top 15-12.

Lexie Bacon opened the season by serving an ace in set one.  The set showed the equality of teams as two points was the biggest lead of either team  during the first half of he game.  The Cadets made a break away as they ran off five straight points to take a 16-11 lead.  A kill by Mickayla Petersen put Brianne Haskell at the service line with a 13-17 deficit.  The senior outside hitter was able to tie the score with the help of Kelly Wakeley who had a block and kill bringing the game to a 17-17 score.   With the score tied at 19, the Cadets pushed the score to 23-19 before giving up the serve.  The Cougars manage three more points , but could not keep the Cadets from getting two.

The second set opened badly for the Maroon.  They trailed 8-2 before battling back to take the set.  Kelly Wakeley served the team to within three points.    On Brianne Haskell’s service a kill by Tessie Collins tied the score at 12. and a block by Mickayla P made it 14-12.  The visitors were able to strike back and took a 19-16 lead .  They continued to have a two point cushion and were three points from a win. With a side out Lexie Bacon served up an ace and spurred the team to a one point lead, 23-22.   The game went to extra points after ending 25-25.  Tessie C was at service when the Cougars gained a two point lead for a 27-25 win.

The Cadets were shaken and the third set opened with Northeast jumping out to a 6-0 lead as Bacon served two aces and a big kill by Haskell and a block by Collins.  The lead was expanded to 17-7 by the end of Wakeley’s service.  She had an ace and Haskell chipped in with a kill and block.  A kill by Madie Ronnfeldt made it 18-8.  The wheels of the romp came off as a service error turned the ball over to WP-B who had runs of 6 and 3 to pull within two points, 19-17.  Haskell served out the match and with the help of two kills by Wakeley and a block by Collins Northeast won 25-17.

The Cougars had the momentum and sped to a 5-0 lead in game four.  The Cadets tied the score at 8-8 and went onto gain a two point advantage that they kept  except for ties at 15 and 19 points.  After pulling up to the Cadets at 19 the Cougars quickly found themselves  down by four, 23-19.  WP-B  used a strong front line attack to finish off a 25-22 win.

In the fifth set,  LDNE gained 4-1 lead, but the set quickly turned into teams trading service with the score tied a 9, 10, and 11 points.  The Cougars had an untimely service error to give the Cadets a 12-11 lead.  They served out the game for a 15-11 win.

The Lady Cougars travel to Clarkson for another EHC contest on Tuesday.  They will be at Wakefield for an eight tem tournament on Thursday and Saturday.

WP-B 25 25 17 25 15
LDNE 22 25 25 22 11

Kelly Wakeley- 11 kills, 16 digs 1 ace
Brianne Haskell- 8 kills, 11 digs  2 aces
Mickayla Petersen- 5 blocks, 16 assists  1 ace
Madie Ronnfeldt- 4 blocks, 3 kills
Tessie Collins- 5 blocks, 2 kills
Lexie Bacon- 13 digs, 17 assists  4 aces
Abby Peterson- 27 digs