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 The 'Ladies' treated the fans to some great volleyball that
featured some monster kills, some pretty long volleys and some
amazing defense. Bodies were hitting the gym floor all night as both
sides hustled through three sets.
In the end it was the Central State Eight powerhouse Lincoln over
the Tomahawk Conference Lady Toppers 23-25, 25-17 and 25-13.
First-year Lady Railer Head Coach Kyle Caldwell was pleased with his
team’s performance following the victory, which improved Lincoln to
8-5 (2-2 CS8) on the season. “We are feeling good about where we are
at right now,” said Coach Caldwell. "We are going to be really
consistent this year, trying to work hard, trying to be disciplined
and have a lot of energy and those are the things that we are going
to try to bring to every match,” said the coach who is a graduate of
Illinois State University and hails from Schaumburg, Illinois.
 "I’ve got fifteen players, where from top to bottom, I feel
confident putting any single one of them in the game at any point
and that’s really great for us. If anyone has a rough night,
everybody else steps up right away and fills in,” said Caldwell, who
was previously an assistant coach for three years at Normal West.
Brooklynn Elsas led the Lady Railers with 12 kills and more often
than not they were monster kills by the 5’8” senior outside hitter.
Coach Caldwell complimented Elsas’ play following the game by
saying, "She’s quite an athlete and very talented in all the
volleyball skills as well, it’s a great combination.”
Over on the Mount Pulaski side, sophomore outside hitter Skylar
Hayes led the team with 14 kills while gathering 10 digs. Hayes led
off the night with a big kill that let everyone know she came to
play.
Following the kill by Hayes to open play, Lincoln then jumped out to
the 4-1 lead.
Mount Pulaski scratched their way back to tie the score at 7-7.
An ace by Alexandra Beckers gave Mount Pulaski a 9-8 lead but a huge
kill by Grace Bossingham evened the score again.
Lincoln went ahead 13-11 on a kill by Elsas that just made the crowd
turn their heads and say, “Wow!”
A kill by Beckers kept Mount Pulaski in the set, although Lincoln
still managed a 17-15 lead.
The teams then volleyed back and forth and Mount Pulaski capitalized
on a few Lincoln errors and eventually took a 19-17 lead on a kill
by freshman Paige Stewart.
Next up 5’10” senior Lauren Block made a statement with her huge
kill against the block and after Beckers was blocked for Mount
Pulaski the score was knotted up 19-19.
Fitzpatrick’s kill for Mount Pulaski put the Lady Toppers up 21-20,
but Bossingham’s tip was good over Hayes and again it was a
anybody’s game.
Hayes got revenge with a big kill and then sophomore Morgan May
fired back from the middle for Mount Pulaski and the Lady Toppers
lead was 23-21.
 Following a serve out of bounds by Kenzie Lock of Mount Pulaski,
Josalyn Owens came up big with the kill and the score rested at
23-23, but not for long.
Bossingham served the next ball into the net for Lincoln and then
freshman Isabella Wade stepped to the line to serve for Mount
Pulaski. The serve was good and a kill by Hayes ended set one in
favor of Mount Pulaski 25-23.
Set two
Autumn Hoffert, a 5’9” junior outside hitter, had the first kill of
set two and the intense action was just beginning. Hayes evened the
score with a kill.
Back to back kills by Bossingham and Elsas let the crowd know
Lincoln had every intention of playing their “A” game and they did
just that.
Hustle was the name of the game all night long, but without a doubt
Lincoln stepped it up in set two. Mount Pulaski continued to play
scrappy as well. Both sides just refused to let a ball drop, as was
evidenced by their play, much to the crowd’s pleasure. It really
makes for some great volleyball when both sides play their hearts
out.
Lincoln jumped out to an 11-7 lead on a kill by Owens and that
forced Mount Pulaski to call timeout. Another kill by Hoffert put
the Lady Railers up 12-9.
Things started to unravel for Mount Pulaski, while Lincoln took
advantage and before long the Lady Railers had earned a comfortable
17-9 lead.
Bossingham found a hole and promptly put the ball in it to give
Lincoln a 19-11 lead. The lead just got bigger on a nice hit by
Amber Oliver and the Lincoln lead was 20-13.
Elsas proved her volleyball skills by hitting through the block,
nicely, to give Lincoln a 22-16 lead.
Lincoln went on to cruise to a 25-17 victory in set two.
Set three
Set three started out as a good contest with lots of hustle yet
again, and shortly after the first couple serves, there was a very
long volley. Lincoln won that volley with Block hammering down the
kill and putting the Lady Railers up 3-2.
 Mount Pulaski went up 6-4 as Beckers, who is transitioning to a
hitting position this year, while still continuing to set the ball,
came up big with the kill.
Lincoln tied the score 6-6 when a perfect short set was taylor-made
for Block and she did great in putting the ball down, leaving Mount
Pulaski bodies hitting the floor and coming up empty. Beckers then
got a confidence-booster as her kill went through the tough Lincoln
defense and the Lady Toppers managed a short-lived lead, 8-7.
Then came another “wow” moment from the Lady Railers. Owens got on
top of the ball and impressively hammered it down, leaving Mount
Pulaski stunned and seeing a tie score, 8-8.
Mount Pulaski managed to stay within reach the next two possessions,
but then things quickly came undone for the visiting team. The Lady
Railers took an 11-9 lead when Mount Pulaski hit the ball out of
bounds, and that was just the beginning of the end for Mount
Pulaski.
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The Lady Railers continued to play on top of their game while the
Lady Toppers appeared to just be running out of gas. Lincoln’s lead
was quickly 19-11 and the Lady Railers appeared to be picking up
steam at this point.
Lincoln’s defense at the net was very good all evening, as
Bossingham led the team with three blocks, and the Lady Railers just
kept shutting down Mount Pulaski at the net. Without a doubt Lincoln
was running away with this one as the score was 22-11.
Hayes would come up with another kill for Mount Pulaski, but it
would be Elsas stealing all the thunder and sealing the deal for
Lincoln, as she ended on a good note. A final kill by Elsas gave
Lincoln the 25-13 victory in set three.
Following the loss, Mount Pulaski Coach Dulle said of the intense
matchup, "It was very good. I just think that everything was just a
little bit off the whole night for us. When the passing began to
pick up, then the setting got off a little bit. I think the hitters
were kind of off all night. Skylar had some good swings. We had some
good parts again, you know.”
Dulle was also pleased with her senior, Beckers, who contributed 7
kills, 14 assists and 10 digs. "Alexandra brought her game,” said
the veteran coach.
"I am not too upset. The third game got away from us. We are still
working on some improving. Our middles are starting to close the
block a little bit better. Paige had a couple balls that she
stopped, and we have to have that from her. Morgan is a work in
progress. She’s gonna get better, she’s quick enough. We have to
work with her hands a little bit,” Coach Dulle said.
In addressing the topic of the youth on the court playing varsity,
Dulle added, "They all do little things, so if we get a lot more
little things going our way we are going to be okay.”
Mount Pulaski’s record is now an even 3-3 on the season. Both Mount
Pulaski and Lincoln will play in the Mount Pulaski Fall Festival
Tournament beginning tonight at 5:00 p.m. and play will resume on
Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m.
In the Junior Varsity game, Lincoln won 25-14 and 25-14. There was
also a freshman match that saw Mount Pulaski win 25-21 and 27-25.
After a close win in
set one, Mount Pulaski coaches Donna and Bethany Dulle prepare their
team for the next set.
First year Lincoln
head coach, Kyle Caldwell, talks strategy with his team.
After breaking even
in the course of the first two sets, the Lady Railers focus on set
three.
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Members of the Lady
Railers shake hands with the Lady Toppers following Lincoln’s win
Thursday night.
Brooklynn Elsas puts
the exclamation mark on the Lady Railers victory over Mount Pulaski
Thursday night. Elsas had 12 kills for Lincoln.
Mount Pulaski Varsity Stats
Abigail Fitzpatrick 8 kills 20 digs
Alex Clemons 1 kill
Alexandra Beckers 7 kills 14 assists 10 digs
Morgan May 2 kills 5 digs
Skylar Hayes 14 kills 10 digs
Isabella Wade 8 assists 5 digs
Lincoln Varsity Stats Leaders
Brooklynn Elsas 12 kills
Josalyn Owens 8 kills
Grace Bossingham 3 blocks
Emma O’Donoghue 3 aces 17 assists
Kennedy Lolling 15 digs
[Teena Lowery]
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