Loogootee Jr-Sr High School

On Saturday, the Varsity Loogootee Lady Lions traveled to compete in the Borden Invite, where they faced three straight best-of-three matches. The day opened against the Corydon Central Lady Panthers, and Loogootee started off slow, dropping a tightly contested first set 30-32. The Lady Lions quickly regrouped, dominating the second set 25-8 and carrying that momentum into the third for a 15-9 victory. Offensively, the kills were spread evenly with junior Alaina Diamond, senior Macy Knepp, and sophomore Savannah Green each tallying 8 kills, with Green leading the way with a .286 hitting percentage. From the service line, libero Jocelynn Sims paced the team with 5 aces, while Sims and freshman Lydia Hawkins each contributed 11 service points. At the net, Hawkins and Diamond each recorded 4 blocks, while Sims anchored the back row with 18 digs, followed by Knepp with 12 and Hawkins with 7. Hawkins and junior Aubrey Gilbert handled the setting duties, finishing with 14 and 9 assists respectively. In their second match of the day, the Lady Lions faced off against conference and potential sectional opponent, the Shoals Lady Jug Rox, in a highly anticipated matchup. Loogootee came out strong, taking the first set 25-20 and battling through a tightly contested second set to close out the match 26-24 for a straight-sets victory. Macy Knepp led the offensive attack with 9 kills, followed closely by Alaina Diamond with 7. From the service line, Jocelynn Sims once again led in aces with 5, while Savannah Green recorded a team-high 10 service points. Defensively, Diamond was a force at the net with 2 blocks, while Knepp and Sims anchored the back row with 14 and 13 digs respectively. Setting duties were once again split between Aubrey Gilbert (10 assists) and Lydia Hawkins (9 assists). In their final match of the day, the Lady Lions appeared to run out of steam after two hard-fought wins. Despite remaining competitive, they ultimately fell to the Borden Lady Braves in straight sets, 17-25, 17-25. Diamond and Knepp once again led the attack with 5 kills each, with Diamond posting an efficient .308 hitting percentage. Knepp also led from the service line with 2 aces and 5 points. Freshman Karmen Wilson made her presence felt defensively, tallying 3 blocks at the net. In the back row, Sims (11 digs), Gilbert (10 digs), and Knepp (9 digs) all made key contributions. Hawkins ran the offense with 10 assists, while Gilbert added 3. Despite finishing the day 2-1, a tiebreaker with Shoals prevented Loogootee from winning the invite. The Lady Lions now sit at 3-5 on the season and will look to build momentum as they return home to host the Lady Cougars on Tuesday night.