Coldwater sweeps Kansas Lakota

COLDWATER - Coldwater passed its first tournament test on Wednesday.

The Cavaliers will now prepare for what the coaching staff believes to be their toughest sectional test in quite a long time.

Third-seeded Coldwater delivered a convincing three-set victory over 13th-seeded Kansas Lakota, winning by scores of 25-7, 25-11 and 25-14 at the Palace.

Coldwater (17-6) meets fourth-seeded Fostoria at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Liberty-Benton High School. The Red Men (18-3) won the Northern Buckeye Conference this season.

"They've only lost three games," Coldwater coach Nikki Etzler pointed out. "They have a girl who has a lot of kills. They're in a groove, so it's going to be a really tough match. We're going to have to play well. We're going to have to take care of their really aggressive attacker. We're looking forward to the opportunity."

Coldwater led the entire way on Wednesday. The match didn't feature any ties, either.

Lauren Gilliland had a match-high 12 kills and three aces for Coldwater. Katie Alig finished with eight kills, Alaina Steinke tallied a match-high four aces, Taylor Siefring had eight digs and Annelise Harlamert totaled 27 assists.

Gilliland had four kills in the opening set, Harlamert had two aces as part of a seven-point service run, while Steinke, Maddie Klosterman and Alig added aces in the 25-7 win.

The second set was competitive at the beginning stages , but it didn't stay that way for long. Coldwater's once 6-5 lead ballooned quickly as it coasted to a 25-11 victory.

The final set? A lot of the same. The Cavs opened up a big lead and never let the Raiders back in it.

"It's about controlling your errors, you know, making sure that we're taking care of our side of the court," Etzler said. "We were working on things that we need to improve so that if or when we advance, we can be better at that. That was our focus tonight: getting better for the long run."

Coldwater, last year's Division III state runner-up, will look to earn its eighth straight trip to the district round when it meets Fostoria.