Nabbing a pair of home wins on Saturday, the Labette Cardinals swept Friends JV, 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-17) and Rose State, 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-18).
“It was much needed going into next week,” Labette head coach Haley Cook said. “We’ve got four matches this week and it’s busy. So we needed this.”
Bailey Brockus paced Labette with 11 kills while Margaux Pique chipped in eight. Morgan Compton had 17 assists while Jill Holwick added 13. Dayanara Castillo tallied 18 digs while Brockus notched nine.
“I felt like we were just more consistent and had a few hitters put balls away,” Cook said. “Our block worked really well. It was one of the more consistent matches we had.”
Pique and Hoisington each led the Cardinals with a dozen kills against Rose State while Brockus added 10. Compton recorded 23 assists while Holwick added 19, while Castillo had 24 digs.
“We weren’t getting in ruts or dwelling on anything,” Cook said. “We always came back, rallied and did what we had to do to put the ball away.”
Pique, a native of France, was the catalyst to the trajectory-shifting moments against Rose State. Late in the third set, Pique had three straight kills then a wild dig that put the match on ice.
“She’s definitely one of our momentum-builders we have,” Cook said. “She comes in at the perfect time to get us back into a game or maintain the lead. She did well on all aspects today. She found her consistency today.”
Labette improved to 5-17 overall.
Up next
Labette plays four matches this week — Ottawa JV on Monday, Fort Scott on Wednesday, then road trips to John Brown JV and West Plains on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Wednesday’s KJCCC tilt against Fort Scott will have major postseason implications. Coffeyville, Fort Scott, Labette and Independence will battle for the seventh and final postseason berth down the final weeks of the regular season.
Labette already has a loss to Independence on its record — a loss to Fort Scott would likely be a death blow.
“We play Monday, so we’ll focus a lot on active recovery,” Cook said. “Hopefully, we get a conference win on Wednesday.”
