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On Tuesday, Florence hosted a battle of the M&O and Northern Lakes volleyball conferences.
The triangular featured the top teams from the Northern Lakes in Laona-Wabeno and Florence, while Suring was the M&O Conference champ a year ago.
Suring came out hot in the first set and gave Florence a test. However, Florence gave them points in unforced errors.
Once Florence settled in, the momentum changed in the LadyCats’ favor and they swept Suring with scores of 25-22, 25-10,25-7.
“We started a little slow, but Suring has some bright spots, but once we started rolling there was no stopping us,” said Florence coach Teresa Chrisman. “It was nice to see us not have a second-set slump; instead we did not let up and finished strong.”
Kelsi Chrisman had a great game at the net tallying 21 kills with a hitting percentage of .400. She also led with four aces. Miley VanDenHeuvel had nine kills, six blocks and 10 digs against Suring. Naomi Millan led with 11 digs.
Suring also fell in three to Laona-Wabeno.
Florence ended the night with a solid win against Laona-Wabeno, after just falling to them last week.
“It was great volleyball, a real see-saw battle with great rallies and a lot of blocking and intense, scrappy play by both teams,” coach Chrisman said.
Laona-Wabeno took the first set 21-25, and Florence took the next three with the scores of 25-11, 27-25 and 25-13.
“Taylor Pauley really showed her growth at the libero position,” Chrisman said. “She really focused on just not letting balls drop and her serving was great all night. I also ran Emily Wolske more as an all-around player and she really stepped up with some great digs.”
Pauley led with 19 digs and Wolske had 17. Naomi Millan also contributed 16 digs and eight kills. Julia Murrow also had a solid night, notching 48 assists.
At the net, Miley VanDenHeuvel delivered 10 blocks alone against Laona-Wabeno, and she added 12 kills.
“Miley’s blocking was key to our success,” Chrisman said. “It's been a point of emphasis and Addi Franz has stepped it up as well, adding six total blocks on the night.”
Kelsi Chrisman continued to show her hitting prowess with 17 kills.
“In the beginning we were getting blocked, and Kelsi adjusted and just kept her mind straight and was able to keep swinging and throw in some off-speeds,” coach Chrisman said.
Florence will host Lena on Monday. There will be a rematch of Laona-Wabeno at Florence on Sept. 24 on Senior Night.