Between sets three and four, Niles volleyball coach Jenny Nate gave her team an earful about the way they were playing.

Niles was trailing 2-1 at that point after having lost two consecutive sets.

But the Vikings never responded and wound up losing a key SMAC West Division match to visiting Lakeshore 28-30, 25-21, 25-18 and 25-19 Wednesday night.

“I feel like it’s been a lack of focus,” Nate said following the match. “And that’s even the last couple of days of practice. I feel like we’ve been all over the place. “We’re just not doing the little things like we should be, things like passing, fundamentals, staying down and trusting your teammates.

“Right now I need these girls to trust that the girl next to them are going to do their jobs. And I’m not sure we’re trusting each other. We were and now we’re kind of stepping back.”

Niles (22-11-3, 3-2 West) rallied to win the first set 30-28.

From that point on it was all Lancers, especially at the net.

Taylor Joachim, at 6-foot- 4, was dominating for Lakeshore with 22 kills, 14 digs, four blocks and two assists.

But Joachim, who is headed to the University of Colorado next season, wasn’t the only player delivering for the Lancers.

Taylor Wagner and Jill Wygonik, who are both 6-foot tall, finished with a combined 16 kills and seven blocks.

“Their hitters were coming at us from different directions,” Nate said. “Their defense did a great job. They were very scrappy. And they had a great server. I have very good serve receive passers. My girls are pretty darn good in the back row at that. But tonight (Hannah) Racine was good. We’ve got to learn when we face a server like that, we’ve got to come together and break that rotation.”

Niles freshman Bella Rasler led the team with 12 kills, two blocks and five digs.  Lexi Smith and Jazmin Brann added 10 and nine kills respectively.

Kelsey Barton, who took a shot in the face in the first set from a teammate while going after a ball, finished with 35 assists and 12 digs.

 

Lakeshore d. Niles 3-1

Set scores

28-30, 25-21, 25-18, 25-19

 

Niles statistics

Leading scorers

Bella Rasler 11 points, 2 aces

Courtney Nixon 8 points, 1 ace

Holly Walker 5 points, 1 ace

Kelsey Barton 5 points, 1 ace

Megan Kohler 4 points

 

Kills

Rasler 12

Lexi Smith 10

Jazmin Brann 9

Kohler 4

Barton 4

 

Blocks

Kohler 4

Rasler 2

Barton 2

Brann 1

Nixon 1

 

Digs

Barton 12

Bre Love 11

Walker 8

Nixon 7

Rasler 5

Kohler 4

 

Assists

Barton 35

 

Varsity records

Lakeshore 19-18-3, 4-1 West; Niles 22-11-3, 3-2 West