LAKE CORMORANT — The Lady Commodores season came to an end on Tuesday as Lafayette fell in a 3-0 sweep by Lake Cormorant in the second round of the Class II MHSAA playoffs.

“One of the things we really stress is being loose and being aggressive and tonight we got off the bus tight. So when I saw that I knew immediately that we were going to struggle in that first set,” Lafayette head coach Clint Jordan said. “We’ve done that before, so I thought we would shake it off after the first set, but they took it to us in the second set.”

Lake Cormorant (26-15) opened the match in a big way, putting up an 8-0 lead on the Commodores, aided by a series of reception errors, an ace from Lady Gators setter Madison Stevens and a kill from blocker Jastiny Suggs.

Lake Cormorant’s lead only expanded later in the game, where the team saw a lead as large as 13 points before taking the opening set 25-10.

Set two finished with the same score, the Gators defeating Lafayette (14-15) for a 2-0 advantage.

“You know, in the second set we were aggressive. We made some errors to start, but we came out hard. But when they came after us we dropped our heads and got shy again,” Jordan said.

Facing a win or go home situation for set three, the Lady Commodores came out swinging, earning a 4-3 lead behind a tip over the net from Julianna Ingram. Junior Xhirr Burgess also posted back to back blocks against the Lady Gators to improve Lafayette’s lead 6-3, before Lake Cormorant came back to tie the game at 7-7 and, again, at 11-11.

An error from the ‘Dores handed the Gators a 12-11 lead though Burgess posted her final block of the match to tie the game for the final time at 12-12. Following that point, Lake Cormorant outscored Lafayette 13-6 and claimed the set, and the match, in a 25-18 final.

Though the season ends for Lafayette with the loss, Jordan couldn’t be prouder of his team, he said.

“These (three) seniors were my first group of ninth graders, it was just the three of them my first year here,” Jordan said. “It’s sad for it to end, but we’ve got a lot to be proud of. We played good volleyball this year. We had our struggles here and there….but our season has been good.”