Lincoln County huddles during a timeout at the league tournament in Las Vegas last week.
The Lincoln County High School volleyball team played hard during the first-round league playoff match against first-place Meadows. But the Mustangs were ultimately too much for the young Lady Lynx, winning 25-20, 25-18, 25-20.
Going into the tournament as the four-seed was not ideal for Lincoln, since they had faced Meadows before and had lost, just like all the other members of the 2A Southern League. In Coach Chantel Holt’s words, “We weren’t ready.”
Lincoln rose to the occasion many times throughout the season. Sole senior Sadie Soderborg was joined by only two other upperclassmen, and the other players were all young and new to the sport.
Preceding the game, sophomore Alyssa Rippetoe rolled her ankle, forcing her to sit on the sidelines for the first few games, so other players stepped up to fill the void. One player can make a difference, and while Ada Heaton and Kaite Mathews showed their talents in both serving and speed, the team was relieved when Rippetoe rejoined the game.
Player stats were not immediately available. While Lincoln may have lost all three games against Meadows, they didn’t take their relegation to fourth place lying down. “The key is to get in the right mindframe,” Coach Holt commented. “It’s hard to come into a tournament in fourth place. But they were hungry.”
In all three games, they kept it close with a team they had failed to even compete with earlier in the season.
“I’m so proud of these girls,” Holt expressed.
While the season might be over, there is quite a bit of hope for next year; young teams turn into seasoned teams. Next year will be different, as long as everyone shows up and has the same drive as they did during this last game, according to Holt.
