Day one dominance at the Thomas More Tournament earned Lake Superior State a pair of straight sets victories on Friday. The Lakers (2-4, 0-0 GLIAC) swept aside Central State 25-15, 25-22, 25-17, then crushed Kentucky State 25-22, 25-16, 25-19 in Crestview Hills, KY.
"We're feeling awesome," said fourth-year right side hitter
Shea Berisoff shortly after the match. "Coming off of a tough year last year, we wanted to do some bigger things. We've worked super hard this preseason, so it was really nice to see us working together as a unit and getting the ball rolling."
Berisoff started the day well against Central State (0-2, 0-0 SIAC), scoring eight kills on 21 hits. She devastated the Kentucky State (0-1, 0-0 SIAC) defense in the second match of the day, scoring 12 kills on 25 hits and tallying a .440 attacking percentage. Berisoff laughed when she heard her stats, then immediately praised her teammates.
"I didn't even know," she exclaimed. "We can't do that without the pass. The sets were amazing. We played lights out defense. Everything was working for us today."
"She was really focused on putting the ball everywhere we talked about and following the scouting report," said Laker Head Coach
Chelsea Cooke-Tripp. "She took advantage of those details, exploited them and used them in her favor."
The Lakers showed their growth from last weekend's Hardrocker Tournament by closing out the Central State match in a big way. They gave the Marauders no quarter, hitting .435 in the third set and taking eight of the last 10 points to clinch the match. While Cooke-Tripp was thrilled with her team's offensive work, she pointed out that it hadn't been the side of the net the squad had worked on during the short week before traveling to the tournament. The Lakers largely focused on their defensive work, then held the Marauders to a -.032 hitting percentage. Cooke-Tripp praised the team's defensive discipline.
"I'm really pleased with our tenaciousness today. We were focused on doing our part, doing the little things on our side."
In the second match of the day, LSSU hammered the Kentucky State Thorobrettes in straight sets. Berisoff's 12 kills and
Elisa Rizzoli's 13 dismantled the opposition defensively, while the passing of
Avery Headworth drew quality reviews.
"Avery delivered a good tempo ball to our hitters and made the right selections," said Cooke-Tripp. "I think that really showed in our play."
The Lakers won six straight sets on Friday, then turn their attention to Saturday morning's doubleheader. They'll face Salem at 9:00 AM, then quickly prepare to play hosts Thomas More at 11:30 AM. But before the dawn of a new day, before the next matches, the team reflected on how nice it was to win twice.
"I want them to enjoy it and remember those feelings, what it was like and how good it was," Cooke-Tripp said. "I talk to the team about remaining in the present but also learning from our past. Try not to focus too much on negative things, but focus on the good things and what we can learn from those."
She added, "It's been a long time coming. Tomorrow, we're just going to focus on the same thing, focus on us and the things we need to do to continue to succeed. Our main focus is working as a unit to be the best we can."
