Lions Split with Wolfpack

The Lions came into the last weekend of the season without a home win and needing a win to qualify for the ACCA national tournament. The Lady Lions proved that they were up to the task with getting a huge win on Saturday, after a long weekend of volleyball for the ladies. 

The Friday tilt looked to be the Wolfpacks as they went up two sets to zero. The Wolfpack won the first set 25-21, followed up by an extremely close 26-24 and the Wolpack had a 17-2 advantage in the third set then the Lady Lions came alive after a timeout. The Lions rallied back to outscore the Wolpack 23-6 to finish out the third set; the Lions also added a win in the 4th set 25-12. The 5th and deciding set started out with both teams trading punches at 5-5 then the Wolfpack ran 6 straight points and that was enough to give the Wolfpack the advantage they needed for a 15-8 win. The Lady Lions were led by Camryn Shockley with 9 kills, Morgan Jorgenson also added a season high 7 kills. Kennedy Nofziger lead the Lions with 16 assists, the Lady Lions had a season high 17 aces which saw Camryn Shockley double her season total with 6 aces on Friday; Kennedy Nofziger, Abreena Knudsen and Shannon Beauchene all added 3 aces respectively. Kayla Barnett led the Lions with 11 digs and Camryn Shockley had 10. Kayla Barnett also led the Lions with 3 total blocks.

On Saturday, the Lions and Wolfpack came back with their 3rd, five set match of the year. The Lions came out on top as they took the second, third and the final 5th set. Camryn Shockley and Kennedy Nofziger led the Lions as they both recorded double doubles. For Kennedy it is her second of the year and for Camryn it is her first of the season. The Lions attack was led by both Camryn Shockley with 13 kills, Kennedy Nofziger had 11 kills on 24 attacks with only 1 error which is a season high 41.7% hitting percentage.  Madison Pennington also had 5 kills with no errors as well. Madison Pennington had 26 assists and Kennedy Nofziger added 20 as well. The Lions had 11 aces on Saturday and were led by Abreena Knudsen with 4 aces, Camryn and Kennedy Nofziger each added 3 aces. Three Lions were over 10 assists, Kayla Barnett had 18 digs, Camryn Shockley and Abreena Knudsen each had 11 digs. Kayla Barnett paced the Lions with 4 total blocks.

"I was so proud of how the ladies played and persevered through this weekend's games. They proved that they have worked hard all season to become a disciplined team that can finish strong. It was so rewarding for them to be able to finish the regular season with a home court win!" Coach Petersen.

The Lions head to Ankeny, IA for the Regional Tournament, the schedule is still pending for the tournament.

Tanner Twigg, SID