The Langford Area volleyball squad was swept in a pair of matches in the past week but both losses were hardfought affairs. Great Plains Lutheran posted a 25-21, 26-24, 25-23 decision on Thursday and last week Tuesday Aberdeen Roncalli came out on top 25-22, 2513, 27-25. Langford Area, now 10-13, hosts Wyndmere-Lidgerwood on Thursday, competes in a tournament in Miller on Saturday, hosts Groton on Monday, and plays at Webster Area on Tuesday.
GPL 25-26-25 LA 22-24-23
Great Plains Lutheran swept Langford Area but only by two-point margins in the second and third sets and a three-point different in set one.
“We lost the entire match by seven points,” said LA coach Susan Larson. “GPL has a tough front line and I thought we defended our court very well. Our attack was pretty evenly distributed. It was nice to be back at full strength with Alex Darling back as libero, and the girls played hard for three solid sets. A win would have been nice, but I’m not disappointed in our performance.”
Megan Gustafson led LA at the service line with four aces, and Eliana Darling had five of the team’s nine kills at the net and led with 15 digs.
SERVING: LA, 54-58, 7 aces (Megan Gustafson 19-19, 4 aces; Bayleann Moen 9-9, 2 aces; Bryanna Peterson 9-9, 1 ace)
HITTING : LA, 63-76, 9 kills (Eliana Darling 14-19, 5 kills; Moen 1924, 2 kills; Gustafson 16-17, 1 kill)
SETTING : LA, 74-75, 9 assists (Tawnee Nelson 70-71, 9 assists)
DIGS : LA, 80 (E. Darling 15, Gustafson 14, Alex Darling 11)
BLOCKS : LA, 5 (Moen 2, Peterson 2) Roncalli 25-25-27 LA 22-13-25
Aberdeen Roncalli prevailed in hard-fought sets one and three to earn a sweep over the Lady Lions.
“A tough loss against a good team,” said Larson. “We played well in sets one and three… lost our footing in game two. We struggled with getting in system, so an aggressive attack was dialed back some. The girls were able to come back after a tough set two and they rallied hard during the third set.”
Eliana Darling led LA at the net with six kills and also came up with 24 digs. Bayleann Moen added four kills.
SERVING : LA, 59-62, 2 aces (Bryanna Peterson 12-13; Eliana Darling 11-11; Megan Gustafson 10-10; Bayleann Moen 8-10, 1 ace; Tawnee Nelson 8-8, 1 ace; Cali Vander Vorst 8-8) HITTING: LA, 71-81, 16 kills (E. Darling 17-19, 6 kills; Moen 14-19, 4 kills; Gustafson 19-20, 2 kills; Vander Vorst 10-11, 2 kills; Peterson 7-8, 1 kill)
SETTING: LA, 76-79, 15 assists (Nelson 72-75, 15 assists)
DIGS: LA, 93 (E. Darling 24, Gustafson 18, Nelson 16, Moen 14)
