Loogootee Jr-Sr High School

The Loogootee Lady Lions opened their 2026 volleyball season on the road Saturday, falling in three sets to Evansville Christian, 24-26, 15-25, 19-25. Despite the sweep, the Lady Lions had opportunities throughout the afternoon, particularly in a back-and-forth opening set that came down to the final points. Loogootee came out strong in the opener, jumping ahead 3-0 behind the serving of Aubrey Gilbert. The Lady Lions maintained the advantage through much of the set and eventually built their largest lead at 15-10, forcing an Evansville Christian timeout. The Eagles began to chip away at the deficit and eventually evened the set at 18 before taking their first lead at 21-20. Evansville Christian stretched the advantage to 23-20, but Loogootee wasn't finished. Facing set point at 24-22, Alaina Diamond delivered a kill to pull the Lady Lions within one. Diamond then went back to the service line, where an Evansville Christian error tied the set at 24-24. The Eagles responded by taking the next two points to escape with a 26-24 opening-set victory. The second set was a much different story, as Evansville Christian raced out to a 7-0 advantage. Loogootee struggled to recover from the early deficit and trailed 17-7 before putting together its best stretch of the set. Wilson came up with back-to-back blocks, and Savannah Green followed with back-to-back aces, helping Loogootee score four straight points and force an Evansville Christian timeout at 17-11. The Eagles steadied themselves from there and went on to take the second set 25-15. Loogootee again found itself behind early in the third, trailing 3-0, but this time the Lady Lions quickly answered. A kill from Taryn Brown, an ace from Lauren Nolan and kills from Lydia Hawkins and Green helped Loogootee battle back. Hawkins added an ace before Green put down a kill to give the Lady Lions their first lead of the set at 8-7. The teams continued trading points before Evansville Christian broke a 10-10 tie with three consecutive points. Loogootee stayed within striking distance, and Diamond delivered four of her match-high 11 kills during the latter portion of the third set. The Eagles, however, were able to maintain their advantage and closed out the match with a 25-19 win. Diamond led the Loogootee attack with 11 kills while also recording two aces. Green finished with five kills and two aces. Gilbert directed the offense with a team-high 13 assists, while Hawkins added six assists. Defensively, senior libero Jocelynn Sims led the Lady Lions with 10 digs, while Hawkins collected nine. At the service line, Lauren Nolan led Loogootee with five service points, while Hawkins and Green each recorded four. The Lady Lions showed their ability to battle back throughout the afternoon, particularly in the opening set when they erased a late three-point deficit and fought off set point. Loogootee will look to build on those stretches as the young season moves forward. This was notably the first match of Coach Tracie McAtee's second stint at the helm of the Lady Lion Volleyball program. Her previous time with the program was from 2016-18, where she won a Sectional Championship in 2016, and compiled a record of 67-32. Coach McAtee is the fourth coach in Lady Lion Volleyball history to have held two different head coaching tenures with the program. Shelly Lengacher (2003-06, 2019-22), Ann Ackerman (1980-88, 1992-93), and Doug Denson (1994-99, 2013-15) are the other three. Varsity Final: Evansville Christian 3, Loogootee 0 Set Scores: 26-24, 25-15, 25-19 Loogootee Statistical Leaders: Service Points — Lauren Nolan 5, Lydia Hawkins 4, Savannah Green 4 Aces — Alaina Diamond 2, Savannah Green 2 Digs — Jocelynn Sims 10, Lydia Hawkins 9 Kills — Alaina Diamond 11, Savannah Green 5 Assists — Aubrey Gilbert 13, Lydia Hawkins 6 In the JV match, Evansville Christian jumped on the Lady Lions early and won the first set, but the young Lady Lions came out in the second set jumping to an 11-3 lead and eventually winning the set to force a third. The JV would win the final set 15-9, to give them their first victory in their first match of the season. Stats for the match: Service Points — Kensleigh Carrico 13, Fara Fisher- 10 Aces — Kensleigh Carrico 7 Digs — Haylo Harmon 16, Abbi Rollins 7 Kills — Kensleigh Carrico 9, Mkenna Gregory 4 Assists — Fara Fisher 12, Kensleigh Carrico 6