CHEYENNE, WY – The #18 Laramie County Community College volleyball shook off a shaky second set as they took down Western Wyoming in four sets, 25-18, 23-25, 25-15, 25-17 on their way to a sixth straight victory and their 21st of the season.
The match opened about as well as the Golden Eagles could hope with a 9-1 run in the first set staking LCCC to a massive edge. Western Wyoming would scrap their way back to as close as four, but never really threated the lead on the way to a 25-18 win, capped off by an Elysiana Fonseca kill.
Set two saw the Mustangs flip the script, taking six of the first seven points and putting LCCC into rally mode.
The Golden Eagles almost did, closing to within two points at 8-6, 9-7, and 13-11, but could never quite get over the hump in the middle points.
Down 19-12, LCCC did go on a late push after a timeout to go on an 11-3 run of their own to take a brief lead at 23-22, but a Mustang timeout silenced the rally and WWCC took the final three points to take the set 25-23 and even the match a one all.
It seemed like the match would turn into a back-and-forth affair from there and both teams traded points through the opening of the third set. LCCC was the first to make a move and would change a 3-3 tie into a 9-4 lead in the blink of an eye to take control.
The lead only grew from there and eventually a double-digit lead at 23-13 was the high-water mark for the Golden Eagles on the way to a 25-15 set win to bring themselves to the verge of a four-set win.
Set four also started off tight though, and LCCC had to fight for the win after taking a 7-3 lead. WWCC tied the match at 8-8 but gave up a 10-1 run from there and the Golden Eagles pulled away and slammed the door on the Mustangs, finishing off the set 25-17 for the 3-1 match victory.
LCCC was paced by Demi Stauffenberg on the attack with 19 kills and was joined in double figures by Sidney Kettlekamp's 12. Fonseca came just shy of another double-digit total with nine kills and as a team they picked up 53.
Kate Ohlsen had a 42-assist night to lead the way and was helped by 33 digs from Sadie Christiansen who set a new career high in the category.
On defense at the net, Lauren Fagerberg's five total blocks was a team high, and the team had three solo blocks and five assisted blocks throughout the match.
With the win, LCCC moves to 5-0 in Region IX North action with an important match on Saturday against Casper College set for 2:00 pm from Storey Gym. The match is also the LCCC Flight for a Cure match, with all proceeds from the match being donated to the Cheyenne Regional Cancer Center and local cancer patients.
More information on the match can be found at www.golccc.com.