Butler volleyball wins three matches at Lamar Invitational

Butler volleyball wins three matches at Lamar Invitational

LAMAR, Colo. - The Butler volleyball team won three of four matches at the two-day Lamar Invitational.

Butler (3-2 overall, 0-1 conference) split with Frank Phillips (TX) and Otero (CO) on Friday before beating Trinidad State (CO) and host Lamar on Saturday.

The Grizzlies lost a tough five-set match to Otero (23-25, 25-17, 25-21, 22-25, 13-15) in the Friday's opening match, but then bounced back after a two-point loss in the opening set to beat Frank Phillips (23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-18).

On Saturday, Butler beat Trinidad State (26-28, 25-23, 28-26, 25-19) in four sets, then won a five-set match over Lamar (16-25, 25-27, 26-24, 25-22, 15-11).

Against Frank Phillips, sophomore Hayley Leeper led Butler with nine kills, one ace and three blocks. Freshman Brooke Fender had 11 digs and eight kills, while sophomore Cassie Pauls added nine digs and eight kills. Cassidy Lutz had a team-high four blocks, while setter Halie Sigurdson had 22 assists and 13 digs. Andie Nibarger added 15 assists and eight digs. Freshman libero Katie Dyer finished with 21 digs and one ace and Abby Goodrum had 14 digs and two aces.

The win came after Butler lost a 2-1 set lead to Otero in the opening match of the day. Otero edged the Grizzlies 25-22 in the fourth set, then won a controversial final set 15-13.

Against Otero, the Grizzlies were led by sophomore Janay Maggett with 10 kills and four blocks. Freshman outside hitter Nicole Klusener had an overall solid performance as she had eight kills, two aces, 20 digs and three total blocks. Lutz had seven kills and seven total blocks, while sophomores Hayley Leeper and Kelsey Hitch had six kills each. Hitch added six blocks.

Sigurdson made her first court appearance of the season after a preseason injury and had 17 assists and 13 digs, while Nibarger added 17 assists. Defensively, Dyer had 17 digs and 3 aces offensively, while Goodrum had 15 digs and 3 aces.

On Saturday against Trinidad, Leeper led Butler with 12 kills, while Maggett added nine kills and five blocks. Fender had eight kills to go along with four aces. Sigurdson had a team-high 23 assists and two aces, while Dyer finished with 25 digs.

In the final match against Lamar, Hitch had a game-high 14 kills with four digs and four blocks. Maggett had 11 kills while hitting at a .417 percentage and added two blocks. Kinzee Mayo also had double-digit kills with 10 and six digs. Sigurdson led in passing with 25 assists and added 21 digs and one ace. Nibarger finished with 16 assists, two kills, one ace and eight digs. Dyer led the Grizzlies with 35 digs and three aces.

Butler will host Friends JV on Monday at the El Dorado Rec Center in the 2016 home opener at 6 p.m., then will hit the road for a conference match on Wednesday in Concordia against Cloud County.