McHenry, MD – The Lady Lakers' play against Carroll Community College was exactly what Brittany Jackson had been waiting to see.
"That's the best I've seen them play," the Garrett College women's volleyball head coach said Saturday morning after the Lady Lakers outlasted Carroll, 25-23, 27-25, 21-25, 17-25, and 15-10. "Everyone was in sync and everything flowed so nicely."
GC couldn't muster the same crisp effort Saturday afternoon against struggling Chesapeake College, but still escaped with a victory. Garrett topped the Skipjacks, 25-14, 23-25, 25-20, and 25-19, to go 2-0 in the tri-match and extend its winning streak to three matches.
"That's a team we definitely should have finished off faster," Jackson said of the Skipjacks. "I'm excited about the sweep, but I know we have a lot of really tough matches coming up. We can step up to play if we choose to step up – but that's a choice we have to make."
Garrett started a 3-0 week last Wednesday by sweeping the Community College of Beaver County, 25-23, 25-21, and 25-21. The perfect week lifted the Lady Lakers to 5-4 overall, 5-3 in Region 20, and 3-4 in the Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference.
The Carroll match was every bit as close as the score indicated. The Lynx (7-3 overall, 6-2 Maryland JuCo) rallied from a two-set deficit behind Karley Badorf (match-high 17 kills, five aces) and Emily McElwaine (nine kills, six blocks), but fell behind early in the fifth set and never recovered.
"We rely on both of them," Carroll head coach Teri Leatherwood said of Badorf and McElwaine. "It's tough to come back being down two sets, but I'm proud of the way our girls came back and forced a fifth set."
Trailing 1-0 in the fifth set, GC reeled off four straight points as Chi Lalk (13 kills) put down a pair of kills.
"I think having that service run and all of a sudden beating up 4-1 set the tone for the fifth set," said Jackson.
The Lynx pulled within 4-3, but Garrett responded with a 6-1 run that included two kills each from Lalk and Emma McCord (13 kills). Lalk finished off the run with an ace that gave Garrett a 10-4 cushion.
Carroll made one last push, pulling within 11-9 on a Badorf ace, but Aiyana Yoder (13 kills) responded with a middle kill that started a match-ending 4-1 run.
GC overcame a 23-21 deficit by scoring the final four points to win the opening set. The second set was tied, 25-25, before Lynx Miriam Zuazo netted a serve attempt and GC's Brenna L'Hommedieu (eight kills, three aces) drilled a serve off Carroll's Sophia DiMaggio to give Garrett a 2-0 set lead.
That's when Badorf and McElwaine went to work, sparking Carroll's third- and fourth-set wins.
"14 [Badorf] and 9 [McElwaine] were very solid," said Jackson. "It took us being a little more crafty to work around them."
Jackson said she particularly pleaded with her players to try to avoid Badorf.
"I was like, 'Can we please not serve to 14, not hit to 14, and know they're going to set 14 every chance they get?' " said Jackson, whose squad did limit Badorf to a pair of kills and a block in the fifth set.
GC's Karen Cuellar finished with a match-high 45 assists and 11 digs. Paola Chirino had 26 digs, four assists and "great serve-receive," according to Jackson. Kailyn McCoy contributed nine digs and Kdynze Salinas chipped in with five digs.
GC 3, Chesapeake 1
McHenry, MD – Emma McCord had two kills and Aiyana Yoder added consecutive, point-scoring tips as the Lady Lakers used an 8-0 run to wipe out a 15-11 deficit and gain control of Saturday's fourth and final set.
Chesapeake (1-9 overall, 1-7 league) twice pulled back within two points, the last time at 20-18, but GC scored five of the last six points to finish off the visitors.
The teams split the first two sets, but Garrett led wire-to-wire in the third set to take a 2-1 lead. GC wiped out a 10-5, fourth-set deficit, finishing the match on a 20-9 run.
Brenna L'Hommedieu finished with 13 kills and Thelma McGee contributed 12 kills, while Karen Cuellar posted 37 assists against Chesapeake. Paola Chirino and Kailyn McCoy had 14 and 11 digs, respectively, as the Lady Lakers played well defensively.
"Our digs kept us in the match," said GC head coach Brittany Jackson.
GC 3, CC Beaver County 0
Monaca, PA – Brenna L'Hommedieu had a match-high 11 kills last Wednesday as the Lady Lakers came away with a sweep
Aiyana Yoder and Emma McCord each added nine kills for GC. Thelma McGee and Haylee Beard contributed five and three kills, respective, for the Lady Lakers.
Karen Cuellar finished with 29 assists for Garrett.
