Leyton beats Creek Valley in first round of D1-12 playoffs

It was a rough and tumble night of volleyball action for the Leyton Lady Warriors on Monday as they beat Creek Valley 3-0 before falling to Dundy County-Stratton 3-2 in the championship game of the D1-12 subdistrict.

Leyton opened with a 25-23, 27-25 and 25-20 win over Creek Valley, before falling to DCS by scores of 15-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22 and 9-15.

The Leyton squad, led by head coach Jodi Craig and assistant Jennifer Gipfert, now end the 2015 season with an overall record of 23-9. With the loss in the first round, coach Roger Behrend's Lady Storm finishes at 12-13 on the season.

Game 1

Leyton 3, Creek Valley 0

Despite the fact that Leyton's Lady Warriors were able to end Creek Valley's season on a 3-0 final score, it was close throughout as the Lady Storm was able to take the lead early in each of the three games, only falling short in the later minutes of each period.

In the first set, the Lady Storm were able to take the lead by as many as five points in the early going and were only stymied after Leyton was able to catch up mid-game and take a 21-19 lead. The lead change came after kills by Lady Warriors Diedra Waite and Kristin Barnett.

It was in those early minutes of each game that Creek Valley's Payje Misegadis was the offensive force at the net, tallying up a pair of kills in each game to lead the Lady Storm with six.

The biggest test of the night for Leyton, however, came in the second set as the Lady Warriors battled back from a 4-0 deficit to equalize the score at 21-21. At that point it became a back-and-forth war on the court, with the Lady Warriors only prevailing after a slicing kill by Taylor Berner put Leyton up for the 27-25 win.

Berner, a junior for the Lady Warriors, said her team's play at the net was integral to the win.

"I think we had a lot of good kills in the match and coach worked with us a lot on our tipping technique, which got us over the edge," Berner said.

The Lady Warriors finally dispatched Creek Valley in the third game – battling back once again from an early deficit – to take the win and move on to the championship round, which would ultimately pit Leyton against Dundy County-Stratton.

After the game, Behrend said he knows why his squad fell in late minutes, though he credited his players for the season of work they put in.

"It seems like in the late minutes of each set is where we hit the wall," Behrend said. "We didn't make enough plays at the end of the sets and, even though we were competitive and played well, Leyton was able to win this one. We end the season at 12-13 and I am extremely proud of my players for all their hard work this season."

By the numbers

For Leyton, there was no bigger offensive force on the night than Waite as she logged 15 kills at the net on 30 attempts, all while adding three solo blocks (tied with Katie Higgins), 14 digs and 10 receptions.

The duo of Hope Dykman and Kristin Barnett each lobbed a pair of aces from the line to lead for Leyton. Natalie Cruise led in digs with 33, while Higgins was on top with 11 receptions. Berner finished the night with 33 assists, adding to her season record of 696 on 2,216 attempts.

On the Creek Valley side, seniors Katie Burch and Joey Straber were solid from the line with two aces each, while fellow senior Chandra Smith threw up three solo blocks, including one credited for a score.

Defensively, Straber also led in digs with 20. Sophomore Samantha Schmid took the top spot in ball handling with 10 assists. She also had 10 receptions.

Game 2... A tough loss

After dropping the championship in five sets – a match which saw Waite step up her game with 12 kills and three aces and Cheyenne Nickel put up seven solo blocks – coach Craig offered her thoughts on the playoff ride her team took this year and gave credit to her players.

"What a great game of volleyball," Craig said. "Despite the loss, some great things happened during this match. I thought Nickel really stepped up her attacking game and Cruise dominated defensively. I was very proud of these girls for not giving up after losing the first set. They always find that heart to fight back and compete.

Obviously this isn't the point in which we wanted to end our season, but these girls should be very proud of their accomplishments and the season they had ... these girls are, and continue to be, major contributors to the tradition of Warrior volleyball."