Refusing to relinquish a lead

COLUMBUS - Some teams share their home court well ... others not so much.

The Lakeview Viqueens volleyball team (3-2) wasn't the most gracious hosts Tuesday night to York (0-2), as it didn't allow the Dukes to the take the lead - not for a single point in a 3-0 set Viqueen rout.

The home squad didn't allow the visitor to rise about the 20-point margin in the 25-18, 25-17, 25-14 victory.

Lakeview stayed right with York during the first few points of each game, then won easily, using strong sets and smothering defense to put the Dukes away. Though service errors hurt the Viqueens and they had some mental mistakes, the girls managed to clear their minds of the errors and go on 5-10-point runs that sealed the victory.

Viqueens head coach K.C. Belitz said his team's emotional level wasn't where it had been recently. Part of this could have been due to having an easier opponent to face after a tough, but successful weekend.

Lakeview was coming off upsetting crosstown rival Scotus Central Catholic in the Shamrock Invite and taking the runner-up honors there.

“We didn't play with as much emotion as we did Saturday,” Belitz said. “But clearly we executed well tonight. To be successful night in and night out, we need to have a high level of emotion. I don't think we achieved that goal tonight.”

Perhaps that goal wasn't met, but the Viqueens didn't miss too many other goals their coaching staff could have set. In the first game, after playing close to a 5-4 lead early on, the team went on a run and forced York coach Becky Bellows to call a time-out after Lakeview led 14-8.

It was too late by then, however, and though York took another timeout and made a couple small runs, Lakeview easily finished the Dukes off 25-18.

After allowing the Dukes a couple of easy points near the end of the game, Viqueens middle hitter Bethany Runge ended the match emphatically by blocking a ball hard back into the Dukes' faces.

The second game started quickly for Lakeview, with all six players on the court for the Viqueens hitting the ball well. A York timeout at 13-5 helped the Dukes, however, and they went on a small run before the Viqueens leveled it out. Blaine Muhle recorded five kills and a block in the game, while Runge had four kills. Ashley Wurdeman had a good game as well, getting three kills and an ace.

After being tied at 2-all in the third game, the outcome was never in doubt as Lakeview went on a 17-8 run before York called its final timeout of the night. The stoppage didn't help. Lakeview continued taking it to the Dukes and took the game 25-14 for its best game of the night. Wurdeman had another ace in the third set to go along with a kill, but she didn't do a jump-serve on the ace as she is trying to keep her shoulder healthy.

“We think I've got a rotator cuff sprain,” Wurdeman said. “So I turned to the other [serve] to rest it.”

Overall, the Viqueens had little letdown from their weekend success and may be picking up their play as the season proceeds.

“We always expect the girls to play at a very high level,” Belitz said. “They need to make that a habit. That was a focus tonight.”

The Viqueens next match will be against Central City at 7 p.m. Thursday at home.

York (0-2) 18 17 14

Lakeview (3-2) 25 25 25

n YORK (Kills-aces-blocks): Katie Lee 3-0-1; Teagan Beck 0-1-0; Tara Nienhueser 3-0-4; Jordan Knight 1-0-0; Michaela Stuhr 3-0-0; Alexa Rosenau 0-0-1.

n LAKEVIEW (Kills-aces-blocks): Ashley Wurdeman 7-2-1; Blaine Muhle 8-0-3; Alexis Henke 3-0-0; Brea Muhle 5-1-0; Bethany Runge 6-1-2; Hannah Fadschild 1-0-0; Ali Luckey 0-1-1; Sharla Schreiber 1-0-0