Dear Florence Falcons, consider this a well-timed message from the Plains Trotters.

Coach Kim Lakko and her fearless Trotters almost shocked the world in Florence Oct. 20, taking the powerful unbeaten Falcons to five sets and very nearly putting the match away in the fourth, before falling 25-12, 21-25, 21-25, 27-25, 15-8 in the hotly contested Western B match.

The big news here is that Florence had not lost even one set in a match so far this season going into this one against Plains.

“It was the first set Florence had lost all year and we took two,” Lakko said. “It was a barn burner, the girls fought hard.”

The match also reportedly featured a few disputed officiating calls, particularly in the pivotal fourth set in Florence, calls that could have tipped the match the Trotters’ way.

That the Trotters played so well in Florence could bode well for Plains net fortunes as the new Western B Super Divisional tournament is set to be played there very shortly, Nov. 4-7 as a matter of fact.

In other action last week, Plains closed our regular season play with a 25-15, 25-18, 23-25, 25-22 victory over Troy in Plains Friday.

Lakko said solid serving, particularly from Bri Kulawinski and her daughter Claire Lakko, who combined to serve 44 points of the match, was a key to the Trotters’ success in Florence. “Bri served very tough for us,” she said adding that Kulawinski finished with seven aces, “and the team served at an aggressive 90%.”

At the net, Hadyn Rice paced the Trotters in Florence with 15 kills and seven blocks, besides hitting nine digs, Aubree Butcher added 11 kills, nine digs and an assist, and Claire Lakko directed the action with 35 set assists, in addition to blocking five Florence kill attempts and digging up 13 others.

Against Troy the Trotters won the first two sets fairly comfortably before the Trojans battled back to make things interesting in the final two, with Plains eventually claiming the match with a tough 25-22 win in the fourth.

Rice hammered down nine kills and floored seven blocks in the win over Troy, Butcher and Kulawinski executed eight kills apiece, Mila Rivinius blocked six Troy kill attempts, Jaycee Carr bumped up 15 Trojan kill tries and Claire Lakko led the Trotters with 23 digs and 32 set assists.

Rice, Carr and Rivinius had one set assist each.

    DOUBLE TROUBLE at the net, Trotters Bri Kulawinski and Mila Rivinius throw up a blocking front against Troy in Plains Saturday. Plains won the match in four sets. (John Hamilton/vp-mi)
  

    HITTING THROUGH, Plains sophomore Reese Meredith in action against the Troy Trojans in Plains Saturday. (John Hamilton/vp-mi)