Lakeland begins title defence with a sweep

The Rustlers women's volleyball team hasn't missed a beat since winning a national title in March.

Saturday evening, Lakeland defended home court in style against a determined Concordia Thunder team with high expectations for the season. Showcasing a different starting rotation, the Rustlers still displayed strong attacking, discplined defence and aggressive serving, the latter of which pressured the Thunder into numerous errors.

Despite a 19-19 tie in the first set, Lakeland withstood the pressure, winning 25-20. After that, the Thunder never quite got back into the match, as the Rustlers made a statement in the third, winning 25-9 to clinch the straight sets victory. Avery Bates had a match high 14 kills, while 5th year Kaylie Lueck had 4 kills, 5 blocks and was spectacular from the service line to win POG.

Lakeland has a weekend off before competing at home again on Oct. 27 against the King's Eagles.