Laconia turned to Tierney Madigan early and often on Thursday night.
The Spartans' senior middle was dominant in Laconia's 23-25, 25-16, 25-10, 25-18 Flyway win against rival St. Mary's Springs at home.
Madigan finished with a match-high 14 kills. Coach Kaitlyn Wiese said Madigan came locked in.
"She's reaching high for the balls, she didn't play scared and she came ready to play and ready to win," Wiese said. "She played phenomenal."
Both crowds created a playoff-like atmosphere. Springs (14-13 overall, 3-2 in Flyway) went on a 13-4 run to finish and win the first set. The Ledgers crowd was loud during the run.
Spartans senior opposite Payton Morgan said the first set served as a wake-up call for the team, which was motivated to avenge its loss to Springs in playoffs last year.
"I think that the first set was definitely kind of like a wake-up call, like we are not having a repeat of last year," Morgan said. "We had to focus, we had to bring that energy. We definitely brought that energy in the second set."
Laconia settled in and took control during the second set. In the final three sets, the Spartans used aggresive serving to take back momentum.
The Spartans finished with 11 aces, senior Addi McCauley led the team with four and setter Mariska Kees had three. Madigan added two aces.
"We know serving is our strong suit and we usually do our best when we're serving and we usually have the most energy when we're serving," Madigan said. "I feel like that's really big when we're in tough games.
"When we serve better, we're going to play better."
Laconia (16-2, 5-0) was also a force at the net defensively with 11 blocks. Madigan also led the Spartans in that stat with four.
Madigan said the team has worked hard to sure up that part of their defense to try to take pressure off of the back row.
"We practice a lot of blocking," Madigan said. "The double block is really hard to hit off of. We're getting better at closing our blocks and figuring out where the hitters are going to hit next so we can help our back row."
Near the end of the third set, Morgan had four-straight kills. She said that when she gets a matchup she likes with a smaller blocker, she tells Kees to feed her.
"It just kind of depends who I'm going against with my blocker," Morgan said. "No offense, if it's a smaller blocker just keep giving me the ball, just keep going, there's nothing they can do about it."
Springs has made several changes in the past week after its loss to Mayville. Senior Lexi Coon, who was previously the libero, is now attacking more for the Ledgers.
Coon also secured her 1,000th career dig during the match.
PHOTO GALLERY: Springs at Laconia volleyball - 10/4/2024
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