West Branch 15-25-25-24-15, Louisville 25-20-21-26-10

After suffering 20 consecutive losses to the Leopards, West Branch defeated Louisville 15-25, 25-20, 25-21, 24-26, 15-10 in the NBC Opener at LHS Tuesday. With the loss, the Lady Leopards are now 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

Louisville was led by Rachel Mathie who had 19 points and 7 aces serving to go along with 25 digs. Haley Shadle also anchored the Leopards with 56 assists and 3 blocks.

The Lady Leopards used a late 7-0 run which propelled them to a 25-15 first set victory. In the second set, they used an 8-1 run to take an 18-15 advantage. Yet, the rollercoaster ride continued as the Warriors scored five consecutive points out of a timeout, finished the set on a 10-2 run, and won the set 25-20.

With the matched tied 1-1, neither team gave the other an edge. Eventually West Branch pulled ahead 15-12, but after a Louisville timeout the Leopards knotted the game at 15-15. The Warriors eventually pulled away to take the third set 25-21.

Louisville took command early in the fourth set building a 10-3 advantage. However, West Branch refused to quit and answered back with a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 12-9. Later on, the Warriors faced game point for the Leopards four straight times and won all four points to tie the game at 24-24. Louisville came up clutch though as Brynn Guist recorded a kill and Mathie followed with an ace to take the set 26-24. Guist along with teammate Kayla Cole unofficially finished with 11 kills, while Emily Hollifield had a game-high 16 kills. Guist also had 3 blocks in the contest.

In the fifth and final set, the Leopards took a 5-3 lead early. The teams battled back and forth to an 8-8 tied before West Branch pulled ahead 11-8. Louisville would never recover from that run as the Warriors took the set 15-10 to take the match.

West Branch was led by Wallace who had 15 points, 5 aces, and 12 digs. Leaders for the Warriors also included Sydney Townes with 12 kills, Kaylee Manning with 12 digs, and Pavin Heath with 26 assists. The last time West Branch defeated Louisville it was also in five sets back on October 14, 2004. Ironically the Head Coach of the Leopards at the time was Penny DeShields who is now the current coach for the Warriors.

JV: Louisville 25-25, West Branch 12-22 (See Recap & Highlights Below)

Freshman: Louisville 2, West Branch 0 (Monday at Beloit)

UP NEXT: The Lady Leopards will next host the Salem Quakers on Thursday, August 28 at

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JV: Louisville 25-25, West Branch 12-22

The Lady Leopards JV Squad defeated visiting West Branch 25-12, 25-22 Tuesday in their NBC Opener. With the victory, Louisville now holds a 3-0 record overall. Unofficially, Sarah Lairson led the Leopards with 7 kills.

Louisville came out of the gate strong as they have all season. They used a 13-2 run to take a 14-3 advantage in the first set. They eventually took the set 25-12.

Competition got more fierce in the second set as the teams battled back and forth. The Lady Leopards pulled ahead using a 5-0 run to take a 14-8 lead. Three consecutive aces by Lairson led the run. However, the Warriors rallied back to take a 20-18 advantage.

Louisville answered back with four consecutive points and then West Branch exchanged the blow to tie the game at 22-22. The Lady Leopards put the game away by taking the final three points of the contest.