Junior Varsity Lady Lynx have success against Valley Christian Eagles, varsity struggles in five sets

The Lincoln gym was full of volleyball fans on Saturday, Sept. 15, to cheer on their Lady Lynx against the visiting Eagles of Valley Christian from Missoula.

JV Lady Lynx

The 4 p.m. game showcased the Lynx junior varsity eight-player team, top heavy with lots of newly minted ninth graders. Having the game of her life, freshman Andrea LaManna, at 5-foot 8 inches is a rising star to keep on your radar. Serving underhand because of a shoulder injury, LaManna was racking up stats in kills (four of the team's six), blocks and digs. Adding to her resume were four blazing ace serves.

With her 4-foot 9-inch stature apparently not much of an impediment, sophomore Nikki Snyder was also a killer, with four ace serves.

"I have some great girls," said Coach Angela Krier of the JV Lynx, "We took more care in practice working on communication and passing. The older players are leading the team nicely, making adjustments on the court during play. This team has a good vibe going."

The fans got their money's worth with the prolonged five set match;

13-25, 25-19, 7-15, 15-5, 15-8, an exhausting win for the JV Lynx... finally.

Varsity Lady Lynx

Coming off a five set, home-court win against the Sheridan Panthers on Friday night, (a real nail-biter that saw the teams continually locked up in tied score) the Lady Lynx volleyball squad had their mojo in gear on Saturday.

Blasting through their first two sets, 25-14, and 25-19, the Lynx seemed to be in line to repeat the win of the previous night. Getting off to a slow start in the third set, the Lynx were behind until Maggie Jorgenson stepped up to serve four points in a row. Suddenly, it looked like the Lynx might come from behind and win the whole game.

Hope fizzled out when the Eagles answered with their own successful serves, taking the third set 20-25. Valley Christian went on to win the next two sets and the match.

Junior Sage Kamps outstanding defensive play with five digs and two spikes at the net. Offensively she was was very reliable on the serving line. Senior Maggie Jorgensen had seven digs, three blocked shots and two spiked balls to score.

One of the most thrilling sights of the contest was watching senior Tanea Reisch fly through the air into the student section to return a serve just before she hit the ground. (No students were harmed in the making of this event.)

Reisch also totaled four digs, two blocks and two spiked balls to score against Valley.

Six-foot junior hitter Alexis Cannon, the tall tower guarding the net, had two kills and three blocks. Successful serving from the Lynx side kept them in the game but several times no Lynx player "called" the incoming ball and it fell to the boards unchallenged, point Eagles. In a close set, a fatal mistake.

The next home match for the Lady Lynx is set for 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, against Seeley Lake H.S.