By By TOM NYHUIS
Vigilant/Argus
BUCHANAN – It took just under an hour for the Lady Bucks to dispose of the Rangers 25-8, 25-17, 25-23 for the 3-0 win Wednesday (Sept. 10) night at Buchanan High School to pick up their first Lakeland Conference varsity volleyball win of the 2008 campaign.
This was the Lady Bucks (9-3, 1-0 LAC) second win of the week and for the Rangers it was their first dual match of the season.
Both coaches saw areas for improvement for their teams after Wednesday's meeting.
"I was excited the way we came out to start the game," Buchanan coach Lisa Holok said. "We got a big jump on them and kept that lead on them and held them to under 10 points. The last two games I felt we let the ball play control us instead of us controlling the ball and that is something we'll be working on the rest of the year."
For Cassopolis the lack of playing time may be a cause for their slow start.
"Our game on Monday got canceled and we have only played in two tournaments so far," Cass coach Erica Boulanger said following the match. "We can't wait until the third game to start playing the way I know we can. When you only play three out of five for the win starting to play as a team in the third game is too late. We need to start with the first game playing Cass volleyball but against a team like Buchanan, we need to bring the third game to the first match up. Tonight there was a lack of communication and we were out of placement."
Buchanan breezed through game one breaking a 4-4 tie with a 10-0 run with Courtney Miller serving up nine straight points for the Lady Bucks for a 14-4 lead. The Rangers struggled to get anything going dropping the opener. In the second game of the match Buchanan jumped out to an early 12-3 lead but the Rangers chipped away at the lead cutting it to a four point disadvantage 18-14 and 20-16 but couldn't get it any closer.
In the final game of the night the Lady Bucks found it hard to put the Rangers away. The biggest lead that Buchanan could manage was six when they took a 16-10. The Rangers wouldn't fold knotting the game at 16 but were unable to take over the lead. After a final tie score at 20 the Lady Bucks held on for the 25-23 victory.
"I thought that Rachel Briggs was a consistent player all night and really stepped up with big plays when we needed her." Holok said.
Cassopolis…0
Buchanan…3
Cassopolis Statistics
Emily Hartsel – 2
Kasey Fosdick – 1
Reva Ivens – 24
Stephanie Vlasciak – 12
Courtnee Foster – 8
Jessica Biek – 19
Olivia Stewart – 15
Athena Hatcher – 5
Chelsea Davis – 4
Brooke Lindley – 3
Kills
Biek – 5
Kristen Fitzsimons – 2
Reva Ivens – 2
Olivia Stewart – 4
Keisha Martinez – 1
Emily Harsel – 1
Assists
Biek – 3
Olivia Stewart – 6
Buchanan Statistics
Courtney Miller 8 digs 10 kills
Anna Callahan 3 digs 5 kills
Jayme O'Bryant 9 digs 4 kills
Rachel Briggs 1 digs 7 kills
Alexis Lenox 30 assists 7 digs
Rachel Downs 13 digs
Taylor Henry 2 kills
Brooke Shultz 4 digs
Kaley Bradames 3 digs
Kirsten Smallwood 2 kills
Audrey Oake 2 kills
Devin Addams 2 assists