Lady Lynx varsity defeat Lady Crusaders

A little stiff after the long ride from Kalispell, the Lady Crusaders, a home-school squad from the Flathead area, had difficulty getting their mojo in gear to do battle with the red-hot Lady Lynx on Friday night, Oct. 18.

In the varsity match, the Crusaders seemed to get better as they got warmed up. The three-and-out sets, 25-15, 25-21, and 25-23 were more exciting than the scores would lead you to believe. Alexis Cannon had to put on her game face in set II when Kalispell rallied to tie the score nine times before the final ax fell. It worked. Her stats were awesome: nine kills, three blocks, six ace serves and the highest percent of successful serves at 95 percent.

Andrea LaManna was not dancing between points in this game, but she put all her mental and physical energy into securing the victory. Her blocks and kills kept the team fired up emotionally, every Lynx lady anticipating a win. Aided by the digs of Jenna Templeton, Nikki Snyder and Sage Kamps the Lincoln ladies were firing on all cylinders. Kamps owned the set-assist stat, making 13 of the team's 14 total.

But the Crusaders weren't going away. Set III was 19-23 and the future looked bleak for the Lynx until Cannon took command of the base line to make the final six points in a row with her intimidating serves. Cannon, a future UM Western Bulldog, is ending her senior year with a bang.

The earlier Junior Varsity sets were more heart-stopping. Going five sets to a tie-breaker, the JV Lynx ladies managed to squeak out the win, kept alive over the long haul by Lindsey Weisner's own brand of deep hoots after every time out that were a cross between the Marines' "Hoo Rah" and the sound of a fog horn.

The close scores 25-19, 24-26, 17-15, 14-16 and 15-13 told the tale of the evening's fierce competition. Jessica Zarske was on her game in this match with seven aces, and eleven set-assists. Weisner had five kills and two powerful blocks. Jaylin Lewenight added five kills, Maya Whittenberg made four digs in the JV game and Alle Russ shot off a successful serve 94 percent of the time.