Pekin falls against Louisa-Muscatine volleyball

LETTS — Pekin traveled to face Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division foe Louisa-Muscatine Thursday on the volleyball court and walked out with a tough five-set loss.

“We had a pretty good night,” Pekin head coach Rusty Crabtree said. “We are improving and coming together pretty nicely. We just have to learn to finish, and we will.”

Emma Phillips served seven aces in the Panthers’ defeat. Claire Roth landed four aces and Quinn Baker three. The Panthers had 20 ace serves in all.

“Our serving was better tonight and should continue to get better as we go,” Crabtree said. “We all know this is a pass/serve game and, to be successful, you need both. We are getting there and I fully expect us to keep getting better at each match.”

Freshman Kayse Miller connected on nine kills. Phillips hit eight kills while Kyli Fitzsimmons and Roth seven spiked seven apiece. Baker and Taylor Gambell combined for 26 assists. Alex Parsons had 18 digs, Sadie Sieren six and Claire Roth five. Fitzsimmons had four blocks.

“We had a lot of really good passing which allowed us to run more offense and hit more, which is fantastic,” Crabtree said. “A big shout out to our back row players, they stepped up and allowed us to play like we did. It is exciting to see things starting to come together.”

Pekin is 7-9 overall and 2-4 in the North while L-M is 4-9, 2-4. The Panthers host Mediapolis Tuesday.