TORRINGTON, WY – It was a defensive battle to open the Region IX conference slate for the Laramie County Community College volleyball team as they fell in a five-set marathon on Tuesday night against Eastern Wyoming College 3-2 (12-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-20, 15-7), dropping to 5-13 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.
The opening set gave great vibes for the Golden Eagles as they were able to break the match open after falling behind 4-1, surging in front on a 17-3 run to take a commanding lead at 18-7. The Lancers didn't roll over but didn't put up a fight the rest of the way as LCCC cruised to a 25-12 first set win.
Set two was much more back-and-forth between the two sides. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 6-3 lead but the team's traded leads and the Lancers found themselves up 11-9.
LCCC went on to win the next six points though off of a tear by Elysiana Fonseca at the net and wouldn't look back after taking a 15-11 advantage. The Lancers did manage to tie the set at 20 late, but Fonseca teamed up with McKienna Kehl for a pair of back-to-back blocks that stole momentum back to the Golden Eagles side and they finished off the set with a 6-1 run.
Moving to the third, the match took the form of punch-counter punch as both teams landed long service runs in the opening points. Tied at eight, LCCC jumped up 12-8 only to see EWC tie the set back at twelve all.
The Golden Eagles won six of the next eight points to go back up 18-14. Eastern Wyoming would close to one three times before finally tying the set at 23. They won the initial break point only for LCCC to even it at 24 all, but errors on the next two points by the Golden Eagles would keep the Lancers hopes of a rally alive and force it to a fourth set after the 26-24 win.
It was a tidal wave of points for LCCC in the fourth to start and it seemed like the match would be clinched early once the Golden Eagles found themselves up 14-5.
EWC found a way to slow the pace, and down 15-7, they pulled off a 13-2 run to take their opening lead of the set 20-17 and stun the LCCC bench. The Golden Eagles only managed three points in the last push to the end and fell 25-20 as the match went to a fifth set.
The Golden Eagles opened up with the first point of the fifth set, but an overserve on the next point gave EWC the ball and they used it to go up 4-1.
LCCC could never get into their rhythm from there and while they were able to keep the Lancers from getting easy points, the Golden Eagles couldn't finish off their own attacks and saw the final set get away from them, falling 15-7 and dropping the match 3-2.
The Golden Eagles were paced by Fonseca who finished with 12 kills and added eight blocks including one solo. Maria Rawlek finished with nine kills and nine blocks. Lea Susoy and McKienna Kehl both added another seven kills and Susoy finished with a team high 20 digs. Savannah Cummings was just behind her with 18.
Conference play continues for LCCC on Friday night when they host Gillette College at the Blue FCU RAC with the opening serve scheduled for 6:00 pm. More information on the LCCC volleyball schedule and streaming information can be found at www.golccc.com.