Trailblazers Battle to Day One Split at East Central Road Tournament

UNION, MO — Lewis and Clark Community College volleyball opened the East Central Tournament on Friday with a split, falling to Metropolitan Community College, before bouncing back for a four-set win over Shawnee Community College.

Head coach Jena Brown said she was encouraged by the team's growth and even shared praise passed along from an official.

"What stood out to me the most today was the positive feedback given to us as a team from a referee who has a history of reffing LC volleyball," Brown said. "He said, 'I have watched many seasons of LC volleyball, and this is the best they have looked in a long time. You just played against a very solid program and were right there with them.'"

Brown noted that consistency continues to be a point of emphasis.

"Overall, I think we are continuing to improve our play by becoming more consistent in our serve receive and hitting efficiency," Brown said. "We need to be a team that has a stronger start and ending to games. Once we get into the groove, we play a great game, but we need to continue to push ourselves and apply that to our starting and finishing of sets."

With two matches in one day, Brown added that staying physically and mentally ready is part of the tournament challenge.

"With back-to-back play, there isn't much downtime," Brown said. "Typically, the girls are getting some quick fuel in them, and they are back to touching the ball and staying warm and locked in. We are still working on our mental bandwidth to stay locked in for back-to-back matches."

The Trailblazers continue tournament play Saturday, September 6, against East Central College. 

Written by Alexandra Dunn, Athletics Social Media Coordinator