FREE ACCESS TO THIS STORY COMPLIMENTS OF MCKINLEY SEAMLESS GUTTERING

BY TRAVIS DAVID

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And then there was one.

With a sweep over Dugger Union during Thursday’s first-round of the Class 1A White River Valley Sectional, Shakamak is the only local team left in postseason play.

After over a week off from competition, the Lakers showed no signs of rust on Thursday. Shakamak improved to 17-7 on the season with a 25-13, 25-16, 25-9 win.

The loss ended the Bulldogs’ season with a record of 5-22.

“The girls were ready to get back out there playing after a week and half of practices,” Lakers’ coach Emeral Goff said of the layoff. “This was a good start to the sectional.”

Bralyn Calvert, Ayanna Clark and Brylee Faulk led the Lakers’ attack in the opener. For the second straight match, Calvert produced a team-high in kills with seven. Faulk and Clark both added six put-aways in the win, while Jordyn Boram (4), Isla Kaufman (3) and Madelyn Kennett (3) combined for 10 kills.

Kennett and Faulk combined to prevent 21 shots from hitting the court, led by Kennett’s 11. Kennett also led the team at the service line with four aces.

Jama Ewers passed out a match-high 18 assists, while Jaedyn Boram added 10 helpers.

Ewers also served up a pair of aces and recorded eight digs in the win.

Peyton Gambill (5), Ava McCrary (4) and Jaedyn Boram (4) combined for 13 digs.

Up next for the Lakers will be Clay City in Saturday’s second semifinal matchup.

The Lakers slipped past their conference rivals in five sets in the regular season finale last week. The 3-2 win was the Lakers’ only five-set match of the season.

“We are excited to be in the semifinals,” Goff said. “We know Clay City is going to be tough and we have some areas of our game that we still need to work on.”

Clay City defeated North Central in Thursday’s first matchup.

No other information was provided.

Lighthouse Christian and the host Wolverines will square off in Saturday’s first semi final match.

LCA swept Cloverdale while WRV defeated Bloomfield, 3-1, in opening matches on Tuesday.

Shakamak — looking to defend its sectional title — defeated LCA 3-1 on the road and swept WRV during regular season matchups. 

Thanks to McKinley Seamless Guttering for the sponsorship of this article