WINONA LAKE - The match didn't go the way the Lakeland Christian Academy Cougars would have liked, but strides were made.
In their first match of the year, LCA was overwhelmed by the Jimtown Jimmies Monday at home, losing in three games (25-9, 25-12, 25-16), but coach Jake Barros was pleased with what his girls achieved given the amount of practice time they've had with one another."They did as well as I would have hoped they'd do," Barros said. "We actually didn't pick up a (junior varsity) coach until midway through last week. So, I've really only had two or three practices with the varsity team as a unit."
In the opening game, the lack of practice time seemed evident.
Of LCA's nine points in Game 1, six came via Jimtown errors, such as serving the ball into the net.
Jimtown did commit its share of unforced errors, but not enough to make the opening game close, as the team from Elkhart cruised to the 25-9 win.
On top of getting a JV coach so late in the practice season, Barros' job get even tougher when its considered he returns just one starter from last year's team in junior Sarah Jungbauer. Along with Jungbauer, Barros has two other returning varsity players, so a loss in the season opener wasn't too disheartening.
"Talk about rebuilding," Barros said. "It's an entirely new squad. We're still trying to figure each other out. I think we made a huge improvement in the 45 minutes we had here tonight."
The first sign of improvement came in Game 2, where the Cougars took five of six points late in the game, turning a 19-7 deficit into a 20-12 game. Jimtown went on to take the game 25-12, but LCA did appear to have more life in the second half of the game.
"We showed improvement from Game 1 to Game 2, then from Game 2 to Game 3," Barros said. "That was encouraging to see."
By far, the best the team looked was in the third game, jumping out to a 6-2 lead, later upping it to 9-5.
Gradually, Jimtown fought its way back into the game, tying things up at 11-11. Jimmies sophomore Katie Goward gave her team a 12-11 lead following one of her match-high 10 kills. Jungbauer tied the game back up with a kill of her own, but from there, Jimtown outscored LCA 13-4, resulting in the 25-16 Jimtown win.
On the night, Goward had two aces to go with her 10 kills, but Jungbauer also looked strong, leading LCA in four different categories, including a match-high seven blocks, seven kills, an ace and three digs.
"She's, by far, our best hitter," Barros said of Jungbauer. "She has the most experience out of the everyone on the court. She plays club (volleyball) all year round. She's dedicated to the sport, and it shows."
Senior Heather Woolums led LCA with 11 assists.
On defense, junior Kaila Higgins posted six digs, while seniors Jess Haines and Kirstin Bramlett each put up three of their own.
Higgins also finished with four kills and an ace.
"Kaila Higgins is going to make a huge difference in our lineup, as far as offense is concerned," Barros said.
LCA is at home again tonight hosting the Whitko Wildcats at 6 p.m., hoping to build on the late success the girls had against Jimtown.
"They all want it," Barros said. "That sounds weird to say about a team, but they do. They all want to be successful. They're working hard to do that."
