Lake’s Savanna Saunders makes an extra effort to set a ball in Saturday’s Block & Gold Invitational. (Nicholas Huenefeld | Sentinel-Tribune)
By Nicholas Huenefeld
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
PERRYSBURG — The Lake volleyball team struggled to get touches at the net against some fast offenses at Saturday’s annual Block & Gold Invitational at Perrysburg High School.
In doing so, the Flyers suffered losses against Newark Catholic (25-19, 25-19), Columbus St. Francis DeSales (25-21, 25-19) and Olmsted Falls (25-17, 25-18), which comes on the heels of a tough four-set loss to Eastwood on Thursday.
“I hate excuses,” Lake head coach Amy Vorst said. “The kids have had a very tough week. They’re just mentally and physically fatigued. That’s not an excuse. They knew that going in. They know that’s what I expect out of them.
“They just need to get their minds refocused. I think that’s a big part of what our issue is right now. It’s between their ears. They physically know what to do, they’re just not executing.”
Newark Catholic (14-4) and Olmsted Falls (14-3), which has now won nine in a row and is receiving votes in the latest Division II poll, was among the competition that Vorst said will be the toughest Lake will play this season.
That said, Lake’s 10th-year coach was not happy with Saturday’s performance.
“We knew coming in that this was going to be our best competition of the whole season,” Vorst said. “They were definitely the fastest offenses that we have seen all year, with very good ball control.
“With that being said, we did not control our side. We did not come in focused with intensity to compete. We kind of just went through the motions and that’s what happens when you go through the motions.”
The Flyers (12-6) struggled to get touches at the net defensively, notably against St. Francis DeSales, which scored 30 of their 50 points on terminations.
“Our blocking really struggled, especially against St. Francis,” Vorst said. “That No. 16. I kept telling the girls, ‘move your block in, move your block in.’ (Lyla Stewart) hit around our block every time.
“We didn’t slow the ball down very well today. Defensively, we had a lot of no-effort balls. That is never acceptable, and that’s why we got defeated.”
On the positive side, Lake was able to get some playing time in the final match for some younger players such as Jada Jerew, Harlow Haberland and Audrina Roundtree.
“That was good to help us prepare for the tournament,” Vorst said. “Every younger player we brought today got time, and they did a good job. They weren’t scared. They didn’t act out of their element. That was a good positive today.”
Vorst was also happy with the team’s fight throughout.
“From where we started to where we finished, I thought we were on the upswing,” she said. “I would take that as a small positive that we didn’t just lay down and quit for the rest of the day.”
Mylah Vorst led the Lake offense with 17 total kills, while Laynie Meadows (11), Keira Magers (10) and Kennedy Falkenberg (8) also contributed.
The Flyers will now focus on the NBC race, in which they control their own destiny for the crown with four matches remaining over the next two weeks, beginning with a home tilt against Fostoria on Tuesday.
