Lady Lakers take out EGHS

JASONVILLE -- Marki Collins of Shakamak dives on the floor for a dig during the Lady Lakers Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference win over Eastern Greene here Monday night. Whitney Richardson (18) looks on from the other side of the net. (By Travis David/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

With the win the Lakers improved to 16-11, 4-3 SWIAC, while the T-Birds slip to 8-19, 3-4.

"She has been working on the jump serve for a while now, but tonight was the first time that she has used it in a match," Lady Lakers coach Jeri Morin said of Gilbert's newfound offensive weapon. "She was really effective with it tonight."

Gilbert recorded 13 points, including a match-high of six aces, to go along with her dominating night at the net as well -- a match-high 19 kills.

Eastern Greene coach Gina Ingram lauded the performance of not one Gilbert, but both Gilbert sisters. According to Ingram, Jess has the luxury of living under the same roof as her setter, younger sister Amanda.

"Jess is a great ballplayer, she is a very strong hitter, and she has a great setter, in her sister Amanda," Ingram said. "They have an advantage of living together, I am sure they have that chemistry down of where the ball needs to be."

Ingram also has a pair of sisters at her disposal as well.

"They have the Gilbert sisters which one is a setter and the other is a hitter. We have the Crowe sisters and they are both setters. Advantage them," Ingram said with a chuckle.

The younger Gilbert, finished with 25 assists, to go along with five digs and five points on 9 of 11 from the service line.

The Lady Thunderbirds would start off with the hot hand in each of the first two games, only to come up short at the end, and just the opposite in game three. Ingram contributed this to many factors.

"We just had a huge lull in the middle of the first two games," Ingram said. "Then we also had some communication problems, and we really let Shakamak control the games tonight."

On the bright side, the Thunderbirds connected on 96 percent from the service line (53 of 55). The downside, they only turned the 53 good serves into 23 points.

"We just did not stay on serve very long," Ingram noted. "When Shakamak served, they served for longer periods of time."

Rikki McCann led the T-Birds from the line with seven points on 13-for-13 on serve to go along with her two kills. Caitlyn Frye (9 of 9 two points, six kills and 14 digs), Joni Crowe (11 of 11, six points and 11 assists), Alyssa Hauser (6-for-6, two points and seven kills) Whitney Richardson (6 of 6, one point, three kills and 13 digs) and Nikki Butler (3 of 3, two points and three kills) were all perfect from the service line during the loss for the Thunderbirds.

The Lady Lakers only connected on 88 percent of their serves (66-for-75), but registered 42 points from the line.

"We missed some serves tonight early on in the match, but we have not practiced since last Thursday," Morin said. "It was still a nice win for us, and we were able to get the job done in three (games) tonight. We have been struggling with putting teams away."

The win ended a brief three-match losing streak for the Lady Lakers.

Marki Collins complemented Gilbert's efforts both at the net and at the service line nicely in the win. The junior finished with nine points on 13 of 15 serving to go along with six kills and a dozen digs.

Holli Moore added nine points (15 of 15 serving) to go along with 10 digs, while freshman Mikayla Crane was 8-for-9 on serve with five points (four aces) and three kills.

Stacey Durham chipped in with four digs, one point and three kills. Kylee Grissom contributed with two digs and 2-for-2 serving, while Jazmine Martin (four) and Kristi Pearson (four) combined for seven digs.

"Overall I was pleased with the performance tonight," Morin said. "We are getting on the right track for the sectional."

Ingram had much of the same to say about her squad despite the loss.

"We just need to build on the positives from each match and not dwell on the negatives. Things will get better. We are playing with more consistency as we are gearing up for sectional play."

The Lakers also won the junior varsity contest, 25-23, 23-25, 15-10.

Shakamak will have their senior night Tuesday night against South Knox while Eastern Greene will continue their road trip to finish up the season as they travel to Shoals for a varsity-only contest on Wednesday.