Lady Lakers unblemished
Lake City Middle volleyball perfect in regular season
The undefeated Lake City Middle School Volleyball Team swept the series with Norris Middle last night in an electrifying fashion.
The team wanted to put an exclamation on the season by inviting the previously undefeated Norris Lady Senators out for eighth grade night. This was an epic battle that would rival Frazier and Ali. Both coaches demanding yellow cards for the opposing coach. Both teams bringing the heat with talented squads.
In front of an energetic sold out crowd in the Lake City Arena, the Lady Lakers were able to establish dominance over the Senators early, using their sheer height advantage. They overpowered the Senators with towering blocks, powerful spikes, and laser serves.
Lake City jumped out to an early six point lead in the first set, thanks to precision serving from Khloe Marlowe to make the score 11-5. Norris tried to adjust their defense by shifting up short to stop Marlowe, who in the last game dropped dimes on the ten foot line, sending the defense into a sprawling mess all over the floor.
Marlowe, not phased by the shift, started dropping balls on the back line. Aces were hitting the ten foot line point after point. Norris adjusted again, but it was too late; Marlowe took six in a row from the defense. Norris lost the serve on the next point, and Lake City continued to pile it on again. Number ten, Alexis Seiber, would valiantly drop three in a row on the Senators.
Norris fought back to even things up with a strong effort, led by a veteran coaching staff. The battle raged on in pure Tolkien fashion, as the Lady Senators and Lakers traded the lead multiple times. In the end, there could be only one, as the Senators fell to the mighty Lady Lakers. People in the crowd were holding their hearts, questioning if they were old enough to have a heart attack.
The second set was similar to the first set, but this time errors on the Lady Lakers side gave the Senators the slightest window to win. Throughout the second set, it looked like the Lakers had them right where they wanted them with towering blocks and powerful spikes. Khloe Marlowe and Savannah Worthington would use their twenty and twenty-two inch verticals to record a number of blocks on the Senators, as both teams fought for control. Jaylynn Baker sat on the back row and dug ball after ball from the offense of the Senators. It was a double threat. The Senators would either be blocked up front, or Baker would pop the ball up in the back. Jaylynn Bullock kept the defense guessing, they were not sure if she would take the point herself, or set her teammates up to smash a point into the defense. They played with a focus that let Norris know that they were not going anywhere.
The third set was back to business for the Lady Lakers, never believing for a moment they would fall to the Senators. Lakers captain, Jaylynn Bullock, started the victory right away by winning the coin toss for Lake City. Gracie Hayes kept the victory rolling by serving two of the hardest serves ever witnessed in a middle school volleyball game. Somewhere along the way, Norris smacked the antenna with the ball, and the ref did not catch it. The uproarious crowd went wild with deafening screams, causing a ruckus on both sides. The Lake City coach yelled for justice until the linemen and referee got together to make the right call. The Lady Lakers were fired up by the potential injustice and the energy flowing from the standing room only crowd. This play would mark the beginning of the end for the mighty Senators.
Jaylynn Bullock rattled off the next three points with a fire and tenacity that had not been witnessed in the game up to that point. At this moment the score was six to one. Khloe Marlowe would keep them guessing for the next two points. Jaylynn Baker, who had been making them pay on defense, would deliver a three point run to put the Lakers within one point of sealing their first ever undefeated regular season.
Savannah Worthington would be the next server. This girl has ice in her veins.
In the first win against Norris, she served the last six points to knock off the previously undefeated Senators. Savannah would not be needed though because the Senators would put the ball just a bit outside, and Jaylynn Baker would walk to the line to make sure the Senators were finished.
The crowd went into a wild frenzy, and rushed the court to congratulate the young Lady Laker heroes on the team’s first ever undefeated season. The celebration would go on for what seemed like an hour, both athletes and supportive students showering each other with high-fives, hugs, and cheers.
They finally had to turn out the lights to get the elated families and friends to leave the once quiet Laker Arena.
Notes from Coach Roskelly: There are many rivalries in sports, but few can compare to the passion that goes into the Norris/Lake City rivalry. When both teams bring the heat, it makes for a great series. Games may get fierce and competitive, but in the end, sportsmanship and respect prevail. There is fire throughout the game, coaches and players shake hands, and we all move on in unity as Mavericks. Good luck to both teams moving forward, and thank you for an awesome experience.
