CHEYENNE, WY – The Laramie County Community College volleyball team found themselves tangling with #4 Northeastern Junior College at home on Thursday night but couldn't overcome a tough third set as they were swept by the Plainswomen 25-19, 26-24, 25-9, falling to 5-12 on the eve of conference play.
"We did a lot of good things, and we gave ourselves a chance," Head Coach Zach Shaver said. "We were right there with the number four team in the country and they are one of the only teams that has played a tougher schedule than us."
The Golden Eagles stepped toe-to-toe in the opening set and on a run triggered by Elysiana Fonseca and Nina Jasiecka kills put LCCC up 9-6. After a timeout by NJC the Plainswomen rolled off six straight points to take the lead back and they wouldn't surrender it from there.
LCC closed within one multiple times, at 12-11, 13-12, 14-13, and 16-15, but couldn't get back to even and NJC closed on a 6-2 run to win 25-19.
The second set seemed to start with NJC still in control, but down 4-0, LCCC went on to win eight of the next ten points to take an 8-6 lead thanks to Paulina Mielniczuk who had three points in the run with an ace and two kills.
LCCC wasn't done.
The Golden Eagles put Northeastern into the back seat with a 9-1 run after the Plainswomen had pushed back ahead 11-9 and seemed to have the set in hand up 18-12.
Northeastern rallied though. Down 19-13, the Plainswomen not only evened the match, but took a 20-19 lead on seven straight points and from there it was down to the wire.
Neither team led by more than two going into the final ten points of the set, and there were four lead changes on the way to a 26-24 win for NJC.
The win was also aided by a controversial call from the line judge when a ball that went out of bounds was ruled to have been touched by LCCC at the net. The point would have given LCCC with set win 25-23, but instead evened the set at 24 all and NJC closed it on the next two points.
The third was one Golden Eagle fans want to scrub away.
LCCC rolled up early in the set with a 6-2 lead, capped by a block at the net that forced a Plainswomen timeout.
"I was really happy with how we started set three," Shaver said, adding that it can be tough to get back up after having a longer break which was given to recognize Make-A-Wish Wyoming between the second and third sets. "I don't think losing set two the way we did hurt us going into the next set."
That was one of the last bright spots for LCCC who gave up a 23-3 run as NJC closed out the sweep in dominant fashion.
The Golden Eagles had a pair lead the in kills as both Fonseca and Jasiecka finished with seven each. Eight members of the team registered kills and Addison Schreurs led the team with 24 assists.
The team did pick up seven aces, including six in the first two sets and Shaver said that was a big bright spot for the team that they had really worked on.
"Coach Chrisman and I were talking afterwords, and she said 'thanks for picking on our weakness' and that was a point we made in practice this week. We had to serve tough against them. You can't let them be in system. They just have too many good attackers."
Defensively, Savannah Cummings had a team high 11 digs and four players finished with two block assists each for four total team blocks on the evening.
LCCC is back in action on Tuesday when they hit the road to take on Eastern Wyoming College. The Lancers enter the game at 9-6 on the season and sit one spot ahead of LCCC in the conference standings as non-conference play wraps up.
Shaver said going into that game, the team needs to work on finishing sets and playing more consistently.
"We have to be able to execute the way they do when it's 15-15 and be able to execute at that level when it's 23 all. As coaches we have to figure out how to simulate end of game pressure so when we are in that situation in the future, we are scoring those points instead of giving them away."
More information on the game as well as streaming information can be found at www.golccc.com.