For the third time this season the Lansing Bobcats and Trumansburg Blue Raiders met on the volleyball court deadlocked at a win each. And for the second straight time the Lady cats took out the broom. In a game which featured  high emotion, intensity, and most of all the chance to keep playing in the postseason, the Lady cats swept the Raiders for a second straight time 27-25, 25-20 and 25-19 in the quarter finals of the IAC section 4 playoffs.  In front of a loud Lansing cheering section the Cats fell behind 8-3 in Game 1, and late in the first frame trailed 18-13.

Using a tight two person bench rotation and 8 players overall the Cats hung tough down 22-20. From there the seniors led the charge, 2 hard aces by Meghan Judd and a Hannah Armstrong kill tied the score at 23. The rivals again were deadlocked at 25, before IAC player of the year Armstrong ended the game with an ace in a 27-25 game 1 victory, which featured 6 ties and 7 lead changes.

The second set saw the Cats jump out to a 4-0 lead with excellent serving by all IAC senior Kelsey Thomas.  Up 6-3 the home club then went on a 6-0 run as senior Keara Lowenhar had 4 consecutive service points to build a 12-3 lead. The Blue Raiders charged back to reduce the margin to 14-12.  A 4-2 Raider spurt made the score 22-19 Cats. Jada Gooch's fierce return made it 24-19. At that point a scary moment occurred when two T-Burg players ran into each other, one seriously injured as she stumbled to the floor. After a 15 minute sequence the lady Raider was taken from the court to a standing ovation.  From there the Cats finished off the set senior Shayln Watson's service point for a 25-20 win.

The visitors were determined to fight to the finish in Game 3, which featured 3 early ties and lead changes.  Second team all IAC senior Jada Gooch took matters into her own hands with 5 straight power service points to build a 10-6 lead.  Leading 12-10 Lansing then went on a 5-0 run to expand the advantage to 15-10.  Again senior leadership kept the Cats ahead with rocket aces by Meghan Judd and timely serves by Armstrong and Watson the latter giving the home club a 21-14 lead.  Junior Kaleigh Hotchkin was also instrumental off the bench, with great ability to dig shots for her team.

In total, a complete team effort as the Lady Cats poured it on and topped the Raiders 25-19 for their second consecutive sweep of their arch rivals and advance to the semi-final round of the IAC playoffs. At the time of this article the game was scheduled for Thursday, November 1st at Horseheads Middle School. A complete recap will appear in next week's on-line edition of the Lansing Star.

v8i42

< Prev		Next >