Following a strong win in the first game, the Trinity Lutheran volleyball team couldn’t muster enough points the rest of the way as they fell to Indianapolis Lutheran 18-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-11 on Thursday.
While she was happy with the start, Cougars coach Chelsea Stroub wants more leadership out of her team down the stretch.
“We came out with confidence and energy and then we lost it,” she said. “Their confidence completely shut down. If the other team scores a few points, we decide that our opponent is the better team. Somehow, our confidence just needs to be there. I think that falls on the senior leadership.”
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In the second game, the were able to distance themselves at 23-16 before finishing it on a Cougars hitting error.
A block by the Cougars’ Hailley Peters narrowed her team’s deficit to 9-5 in the third set.
The Saints went on a 5-0 run to go up 19-11 later in the third game en route to the 25-15 win.
Unwavering to start the fourth game, the Saints build a 10-5 lead until the Cougar’s Lexi Schneider came up with a block to stop the Saint’s rally.
The Cougars won the next three points behind serves from Courtney Barker, to bring the team within one point trailing 10-9.
The Saints then strung together five-straight points before winning the last consecutive nine points for the victory.
Peters led the Cougars’ hitting unit making 17 on 19 attempts with eight kills while Haylee Barker finished with 15 hits on 19 tries and kills.
Courtney Barker was perfect from the line, making all 14 serves with an ace.
Cougars libero Hayley Carter tallied 21 digs in the game.
Throughout the match, the Cougars had trouble with the Saints’ front line.
“They had one really good middle hitter,” Stroub said. “We’ve seen them before, so we should have been able to adjust to that height.”
Saturday, the Cougars will play in the Providence Invitational.
“I want to see us play with more confidence,” Stroub said. “We need to play our game and not let the other team get into our heads. We have a lot of talent, we just aren’t showing it.”