CRANDON, Wis. — The Florence LadyCats lost just one volleyball match at the Northern Lakes Conference tournament hosted by Crandon and also defeated Laona-Wabeno — the top team in the conference the past five years.

“It felt nice to get that win against Wabeno, I finally saw energy with the girls that I had not really seen yet this year,” said coach Teresa Chrisman. “It was pretty electric in that gym.”

Florence started out Saturday winning eight straight sets against against Crandon, Goodman-Pembine, Elcho and Phelps. The LadyCats then defeated Wabeno in two sets 27-25, 25-17.

However, to end the day, Florence simply ran out of juice and lost to Three Lakes, despite winning the first set 25-12.

“I could see that their legs were just kind of gone,” Chrisman said. “We battled hard but ended with scores of 22-25, and 13-15. Felt like two steps forward, one step back. We need to get the ball to the girl that is putting the ball away in close matches like this, and I am confident we will do that moving forward.”

Chrisman cited the play of the VanDenHeuvel sisters, who continue to make strides in hitting. “Ashlyn tallied a massive 52 kills on the day and Miley had 32,” Chrisman said.

Kelsi Chrisman totaled 36 kills, 58 assists, 39 digs, 14 aces and one serving error out of 60 attempts.

“The top of our conference is tough,” Chrisman said. “Three Lakes also defeated Wabeno. We had just defeated Three Lakes on Tuesday at Northland Pines, so it will be a battle to say the least for the top spot in the NLC.”

Florence travels to Wisconsin Dells this weekend for a 16-team varsity clash.

Florence stats:

Sami Demuri 60 assists, 5 Aces, 19 kills, 30 digs

Naomi Millan 11 assists, 5 aces, 10 kills, 14 digs, 2 blocks

Emily Wolske 6 assists, 2 kills, 1 block

Ashley Peterson 1 assist, 5 Aces, 27 digs

Ashlyn VanDenHeuvel 52 kills, 2 assists, 30 digs, 10 Aces, 3 blocks

Miley VanDenHeuvel 32 kills, 6 assists, 13 aces, 46 digs, 3 blocks

Kelsi Chrisman 36 kills, 58 assists, 14 aces, 39 digs