ROCK SPRINGS, Wyoming – The Laramie County Community College volleyball team picked up their fourth win out of four games in Region IX North play against Western Wyoming, 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-11, 25-14, 15-13), on Saturday afternoon at Rushmore gymnasium.
The Golden Eagles improve to 15-7 overall and 4-0 in Region IX North play, while the Mustangs fall to 7-13 overall and 1-3 in the Region IX North.
Sophomore outside hitter Avery Nelson (Colorado Springs, Colorado) led with 17 kills. A pair of middle blockers in sophomores Elizabeth Clark (Sandy, Utah) and Payton Stack (Casper, Wyoming) added 11 kills each. Sophomore setter Kasandra Sturges (Parker, Colorado) paced the Golden Eagles with 34 set assists. Kylie Martin (Gypsum, Colorado) had six kills and two service aces. Defensive specialist (Kyle Meltzer (Fort Collins, Colorado) and Sturges as well as setter Gwen Sheldon (Loveland, Colorado) all recorded a service ace for Laramie County.
Defensively, freshman Alessia Venturelli (Modena, Italy) led with 25 digs, while Meltzer and Martin added 16 and 15. Clark recorded seven blocks and Martin added four.
Laramie County recorded a .281 hitting percentage on the afternoon, compared to Western Wyoming with .136.
"We didn't play our best volleyball early and Western made it evident right away that they were going to have a good day," said head coach Austin Albers. "They flat out beat us up in those first two set and we couldn't find it on our side of the net. Thankfully we were able to show some fortitude and maturity in how we handled being down 0-2. We came out and played much cleaner in the third set and we were able to break down their serve receive a little. This was a great road test for us and will help us grow."
LCCC continues its road stand against Northwest College on Friday at Powell in a 7 p.m. contest.