Lady Cougars split at Lassen Classic
The Lassen College Lady Cougars hosted a pre-conference classic Saturday, Sept. 2. While at the Lassen Classic, the host team took on the Southwest Oregon Lakers and the Mendocino Eagles.
After falling to the Lakers, Lassen earned their second win of the season with a 3-0 final score against Mendocino.
During their first game of the classic, the Lady Cougars warmed up against the Lakers. The game was ultimately called after the Cougars fell to the Lakers in three consecutive matches. However, the Lassen Ladies made some great volleys throughout the game.
Koral Hearn gives a strong serve during the Lassen Classic on Sept. 1. Photo by Ashley GroganIn the first match against Southwest Oregon, the Lady Cougars proved to be a challenge for the Lakers. Lassen continually matched the effort seen from Southwest Oregon.
The scoreboard showed ties of 7-7 and 9-9 before the Lakers finally managed to steal the lead 18-15. From there, Southewest Oregon invested a grand show of effort to bring the score to 22-16 before winning the match 25-17.
Though the Lady Cougars fell in the first match, their fighting spirit raged on.
In match two, the Cougars continued to keep up with the Lakers until Southwest Oregon found their lucky break that changed the score from 17-12 in their favor to 25-16.
Despite the second lost match, Cougar fans saw some great plays from the Lassen Ladies that caused the gym to fill with cheers for the home team. Lassen earned their second point after Koral Hearn and Jill Smith jumped simultaneously to block a Laker spike.
Later, when the Lakers had scored their 13th point, Gabi Geoia found her sweet spot behind the serving line to bring the Cougar score up to 12 points with four consecutive serves.
In match three, the back-and-forth point gain continued with Southwest Oregon jumping to their 18th point as Lassen reached point 12. The match was called with 25-16 on the board, thus marking the third match win for the Lakers.
Lassen did exceptionally well when it came to shaking off the sour luck, however, as their next opponent, the Mendocino Eagles, suffered a 3-0 loss against the hosting ladies.
After the Cougars served up a large slice of humble pie to the Eagles at the Mendocino Classic, it was clear that the Eagles intended to do the same. However, their wishes were not satisfied, as the fire inside the Lady Cougars could not be extinguished.
In the first match, the Eagles clearly gave it their all, but ultimately fell short by four points.
Match two was an even more impressive performance from the Lady Cougars as the final score of 25-16 showed the exhaustion the Eagles were already suffering.
In the final match, the Lassen ladies truly took the cake as they defeated the out-of-breath Eagles with a final score of 25-9.
Between the two games, Lassen scored a total of 124 points.
