Cougars ousted in championship game

LOOGOOTEE

The hopes of the Trinity Lutheran volleyball team returning to the Class A state championship match came to an end Saturday night in the Loogootee Semistate when the host Lions claimed a 25-18, 25-15, 25-22 win in the Jack Butcher Arena.

“Their defense, their blocking, everything. They did a really nice job tonight,” Cougars coach Chelsey Hackman said of the Lions. “They went out there. They fought for it, and they wanted it. They put the ball away tonight, and when you do that, you’ve got a good chance of winning.”

Loogootee coach Lacey Wade said after her team defeated the Cougars in four sets at Seymour at the end of the regular season, she told her girls they would need to work hard to reach the state finals.

“After the season match against them, these girls really knew what they were going to have to do to continue to win against them, and they went out and did it tonight. We played well all-around,” she said. “Last year, we graduated our back row, and so this year, we were rebuilding. Our libero went out after the first two weeks of the season with a hand injury, and so we had to rebuild for the second time this year, and they picked it up really well.”

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