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The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
Lakewood’s Moore League matchup against visiting Millikan on Thursday wasn’t a matter of who could get the momentum—it was a matter of who could keep it. The Lancers gutted out a tough final two sets against the Rams to pull away in a gritty win, 25-22, 15-25, 25-20, 25-16.
“Today we had to be comfortable with being uncomfortable,” said first-year Lakewood coach Adam Wadley. “Millikan is a really scrappy energetic team and I love playing against teams like that because it forces us to play even harder. They did a really good job.”
For a team that has struggled in opening sets this year, Lakewood looked sharp to open the game. They opened the first set on a 8-2 run and looked to their leader and outside hitter Lala Hall for an early spark. The senior was able to help the Lancers fight off the Rams even after trailing later in the set.
“It was tough because we were nervous but I think we did a really good job staying confident and aggressive to get those scrappy points in that first set,” said Hall. “I feel like the pressure wasn’t even on us, we just brought our own energy and hyped ourselves up.”
“Getting that first set win definitely was a bit of a relief because our first sets have been really bad this year so starting off good really helped us get the energy boost tonight,” Wadley said.
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However Millikan came into the second set blazing hot, putting up scoring runs as big as seven points while taking a commanding double digit lead. The Rams swiftly took the set 25-15 and the momentum seemed to have swapped into Millikan blue and gold.
“Honestly they bring it themselves,” credited Millikan coach Antoinette De La Espriella of her team’s momentum. “They feed off of eachother. They feed off of the hustle plays, off the big hits, off the big blocks, and we try and make sure that our bench is echoing onto the court as well.”
But each time a team found momentum the pendulum would swing right back the other way. Lakewood kept their composure in the third and fourth sets earning leads of seven and nine points in their respective sets enroute to the four-set victory.
“Our motto is that the most important play is the next play,” said Wadley of his message after the second set. “We moved on to the third and told them the score was 0-0 and it was best two out of three. We’ve been in that situation before where we get beat down one set and come back and play pretty hard, so we were used to it and were able to get the energy back.”
Jenna Smith led the team with 11 assists next to Carly Bercero’s 10, meanwhile Emily Nanez led the team with a game-high 30 digs. Aaryn Hunter, Kelsey Stephenson, and Smith each had four kills while Hall led the game with 14 kills and a huge spark to the team’s morale.
“All my energy just stems off my teammates scoring,” said Hall. “It hypes me up and makes me want to play better not just for them but for everyone watching too. I want people to come to Lakewood games and have fun watching and know they’re gonna get a good game from us.”
“I mean, in my opinion, I think that she’s the best player in the league,” added Wadley of Hall. “She is one of the smartest volleyball players I’ve ever coached and I’ve coached her the last four years. Obviously we’re thankful for her to be a part of our team and her IQ just takes us to another level.”
For Millikan, Cali Tirado and Parker Brumbelow led the Rams with seven kills each while Aubrey Greene chipped in six.
Millikan has put up a couple scrappy performances through their Moore League schedule and have hung in against some tough opponents. De La Espriella said that she’s been balancing lineup changes as of recent, but says she has the right team to keep pushing forward.
“Today was interesting doing something different with our lineups which threw us for a whirl a little bit but I was happy with what I saw,” she said. “Of all the teams I’ve coached this is the most mentally resilient team that I’ve ever coached. I think we need to just continue to be more assertive and aggressive. We just need to learn how to remain positive but cut through it at the same time.”
The Rams will be at Jordan next Thursday meanwhile Lakewood will continue its Moore League schedule at Wilson on Tuesday.
