Staff photo/Preston Byers. Lakeview’s Molly Stewart is happy after the Bulldogs earned one point with a 3-0 win over McDonald’s on Wednesday.
McDonald’s — Losing happens to everyone. Lakeview’s girls volleyball team is one of the best in the area, and they learned that lesson twice this season.
However, McDonald had managed to avoid defeat in the first 19 games of the year, and only needed a few more wins in the final games to finish the regular season with an undefeated record.
But the Bulldogs showed once again that losing actually happens to everyone, even the Blue Devils, who lost in straight sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-22) to Lakeview on Wednesday. Proved.
Both teams were aware that the non-conference matchup was highly anticipated, but as the away team and the only team with a loss, Lakeview was given the role of underdog, something it hasn’t played much of this season. Ta.
“The girls knew that sometimes it’s nice to be the underdog because you have nothing to lose. We weren’t expected to win.” Lakeview head coach Heather Guthrie said. “That was definitely something we needed. … Coming in as the underdog definitely changed our mentality and brought out more of the fight mode in us.”
However, the Bulldogs did not play at a disadvantage, jumping forward early and continuing to apply pressure.
Lakeview took advantage of well-timed tips and senior Regan Price’s athleticism at the net to close out the first set with a 25-19 victory despite a late comeback attempt.
Lakeview continued to pick up the pace in the second set, breaking through McDonald’s defense.
“(Lakeview) is just a great team. Their hitters, their fast offense. Really, this is the first time we’ve had an offense this fast this year.” McDonald’s head coach Mike Klockner said.
After losing the second set 25-16, Klockner, whose team was trailing going into the third set this season, tried to rally his team and snatch a come-from-behind victory.
“Take it one set at a time. The game isn’t over yet. There’s one more thing to do. Get a set, then move on to the next set, and the one after that. We We’re not thinking too far ahead. We just take it one set at a time, one point at a time.” After falling behind 2-0, Klockner gave a message to his team:
McDonald, who suffered his first loss of the season, fought back to take a 10-4 lead in the third set. But as Klockner told the Blue Devils, the Bulldogs started scoring points at a time for themselves.
Lakeview quickly erased McDonald’s lead and built a lead of its own, forcing the Blue Devils to make a comeback to avoid defeat.
While McDonald began to rally, the Devils scored 8 of 11 points and got as close as one point late in the set, but Lakeview held off the previously undefeated McDonald, 25-22.
Klockner said Wednesday’s loss should teach the team a valuable lesson.
“We play a team like Lakeview to get ready for the tournament.” Klockner said. “There were a lot of good things tonight, but obviously there’s a lot of things we need to fix. Playing a good team like this, a really good team, you can see what we need to work on.”
Guthrie said she and the team learned a few things from Wednesday’s game.
“McDonald’s defense was great.” Guthrie said. “When we were out of our system, they were really shutting us down. That means we’re going to have to work on the out-of-system ball more heading into the playoffs.”
McDonald (19-1) will look to bounce back today against Lowellville before concluding the regular season Saturday against Brookfield.
Lakeview (18-2) concludes the regular season today with a home game against Warren JFK. The Bulldogs are scheduled to begin postseason play on October 19th against Cleveland East Tech.
