The Laurens Academy Lady Crusaders came up short in four games to King Academy on Monday night in Laurens. The Lady Crusaders fall to 8-5 on the season. 

“We matched up very well with them talent and skill wise,” said Head Coach Kristyn Dees.  “I think they beat us mentally,” she added. 

Game 1 started in LA’s favor.  Lauren Broome put the Lady Crusaders up 5-0 to get things rolling.  Both teams appeared to be very evenly matched with LA holding a small lead until the game tied up at 18-18.  Kings Academy kept the lead for the remainder of the game defeating the Lady Crusaders 25-20.

In game 2, the Lady Crusaders were down from the start but fought back.  The Lady Knights led 10-1 before LA started a run.  A few scoring rallies cut Kings Academy’s lead to 13-12.  The Lady Crusaders stayed close before tying things up at 20-20.  LA kept a strong rally going to the end defeating the Lady Knights 25-21. 

Game 3 found the Lady Crusaders trailing from the beginning.  The Lady Knights 6-4 lead early on was as close as LA found themselves.  Kings Academy extended the lead to 10-4 then 20-9, with game point coming for the Lady Knights at 24-15.

Leading 2 games to 1, the Lady Knights went into game 4 looking to finish off the Lady Crusaders.  LA did manage to keep things closer in game 4 but failed to take the lead during the game.  After being down 9-4, the Lady Crusaders began to whittle away at King Academy’s lead getting as close as 12-11.  That was a close as LA was able to get with the Lady Knights controlling the remainder of the game defeating the Lady Crusaders 25-17.

“They had a strong middle… our girls had trouble responding to their blocks and net play,” said Dees. 

The Lady Crusaders head into region play, where they are 4-1, Tuesday night against Anderson Christian.  “I’ll talk to the girls about some skill issues but we’ll put this game behind us,” Dees said.