Lakes makes it past Antioch

By now, most volleyball fans know about the talents of Lakes super setter Maddie Demo and her favorite target, Megan Behrendt.

But frankly, college recruiters are missing out on Behrendt. Yes, she stands 5-feet-7 but she plays 5-11. And she can rival any hitter in Lake County in pure power.

Lakes (27-6) is having another strong campaign, and you can add a few more players on this team to watch out for. Like that mighty blocker at the net named Katie Billetdeaux and her teammate in the middle, Kaylee Lebron.

It was rivalry night at Antioch on Wednesday night. The Sequoits (20-11) didn't run scared against the Eagles, as coach Jamie Atkinson's team had leads in both sets. That club's undersized hitter, Candace Nelson, was again a force for Antioch, but Lakes prevailed in two close ones, 25-20, 25-21.

"Everybody was into this because they are our rival,'' Lebron said. "Antioch served well and they had a good back row attack."

Antioch has hit a skid lately.

"We have five losses since Saturday,'' said Atkinson.

Still, Antioch opened up a 10-7 lead in set one, following a block kill from Katherine Barr. Lakes grabbed a late lead and on a hitting streak from Lebron, and the Eagles prevailed.

"We have a family atmosphere on this team,'' Lebron said. "At every level. We really want to get to the top this year."

The former Antioch star hitter, Katie (Hofeldt) Cheek, is Lebron's coach at Lakes.

"She just wants to get so much better,'' Cheek said of Lebron. "She is so coachable."

Atkinson is pleased with her team's season as well.

"This was kind of sleeper team this year,'' Atkinson said. "I really didn't know we would be this good. And these are girls are just the nicest."

Nelson finished with 10 digs and 3 kills.

"She's really good for being 5-6,'' Atkinson said. "She's a phenomenal player."

Antioch's biggest lead in set two was at 13-11. With Allie Gelander serving, Nelson blasted a kill. This set was quickly knotted up at 14-14. Lebron (6 kills) and Behrendt (9 kills) connected on back-to-back hits.

This set was still up for grabs late. Jordan Staten's serving ace pulled the Sequoits within 20-19. And then Izzy Huntington went into serve for the Eagles. She almost served the match over. Consecutive kills from Billetdeaux were obviously key.

"Everyone contributed,'' Billetdeaux said. "I was just transitioning off the net."

With 7 kills each came McKenna Lahr and Huntington for the Eagles. In addition to her kills, Behrendt led the Lakes defense with 12 digs. Lahr and Huntington each had 10 digs, while setter Demo notched 33 assists and added 7 digs.

"We also had eight serving errors and no aces,'' Cheek said.

For Antioch, libero Vazquez had 17 digs, and Barr finished with 4 kills and 4 blocks.