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North Tahoe volleyball | Lakers fall to Vikings after strong start

Sylas Wright
Sierra Sun
Sylas Wright / Sierra SunNorth Tahoe players rally together before the start of Friday's match.
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TAHOE CITY, Calif. and#8212; The Lakers and Vikings appeared destined for a closely contested Mount Rose League volleyball match Friday night after a back-and-forth battle in Game 1 that kept fans on the edge of their seats.

But visiting South Tahoe settled in after the wild start and North Tahoe faded down the stretch as the Vikings rolled to a win in straight sets, 25-20, 25-10, 25-14.

and#8220;That was the first time all year we played the kind of fast-paced game I like,and#8221; said South Tahoe head coach Danny McLaughlin. and#8220;Because of that they didn’t have time to think, so that minimized our mistakes.and#8221;



The first game featured 15 ties and eight lead changes as neither team could sustain any momentum. After the Vikings pulled even at 19-all, however, Bailey David served five consecutive points to extend South Tahoe’s lead to 24-20. A hit into the net by the Lakers ended the game.

The Lakers never recovered, as South Tahoe jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, then stretched it to 7-1, then 11-2, before North Tahoe called a timeout in an effort to halt the slide.



and#8220;We played well in the first game and then just made too many errors the rest of the way,and#8221; said North Tahoe head coach Tom LeFevers, whose team hit three serves into the net by the time he called the timeout. and#8220;We missed a bunch of serves and got behind, then we just made way too many errors.and#8221;

The Vikings, meanwhile, were on their service game as one player after another rattled off several points at a time. They finished with 17 service aces in the match.

and#8220;Overall as a team we served extremely well, and all six players contributed to that,and#8221; McLaughlin said.

The final set was much like the second, with North Tahoe committing multiple unforced errors as South Tahoe mixed up its lineup to get all its players in the match.

and#8220;I think once we start messing up we get down on ourselves. We really need to pick that up,and#8221; said Lakers senior middle blocker Makenna Gleed.

Senior outside hitter Lexie Courcier posted a team-high five kills and five aces for the Lakers, while Taylor Briggs had three kills and two aces, and Gleed had three kills.

Drew Norberg led the Vikings with eight kills and a block, Morgan Kaufer finished with five kills, Page Gustofson tallied 17 assists, Kaila Griffis had 17 service points, and David had five aces.


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