"It was good that we won all three games," said East Central Head Coach Brad Bruns. "There still were a lot of positive things in the match. There are still a lot of very noticeable things to work on. We still have a couple of weeks left. We hope we are going to clean up some things here and there. Right now, we're serving aggressively. We're passing the ball well, which is what you always want to be doing. We're struggling a little bit offensively. Our defense is still a lot further along than last year. But offense is a key. If we're swinging and playing smart, we're going to win some games. If we shy away and get a little timid, we're going to take our lumps."

In action at Lewis and Clark, sophomore Stephanie Heim (Logan-Rogersville) graded out the best of all East Central players with 11 kills (.333 hitting percentage), 14 digs, five set assists, one ace and two block assists. It was her fourth double-double of the season.

Sophomore Nicole Mannino (Incarnate Word Academy) had six kills with a .333 hitting rate. She added one set assist, one service ace, one dig and three block assists.

Freshman Natalie Davis (Lafayette) posed eight kills at a .400 rate with four digs and one block assist.

"Both of our middles hit pretty well," Bruns said. "We're always strong in the middle. Our outsides just have to start picking up the pace and playing more competitively. If we can fix those problems, we will be where we need to be at the end of the year."

Freshman Kelli Sans Souci (Bourbon) ended with seven kills (season best), a .385 hitting percentage and one block assist.

Sophomore Julie Ohlms (St. Charles Lutheran, State Fair Community College) had three kills, two aces and eight digs.

Freshman Ashley Eggering (Winfield) put down three kills and added a service ace, three digs and one block assist.

"Ashley did a great job coming in off the bench," Bruns said. "She got a couple of kills and did a good job on the service line. She didn't fear anything. She just went right out and got the job done."

Freshman Kasey Kirchhofer (Hermann) ended with 31 set assists and five digs.

Freshmen Samanatha Walch (Warrenton) and Kory O'Laughlin (Winfield) each posted one kill.

During the first game, the Lady Falcons had to do very little to earn the first 12 points in the first game.

With Kirchhofer serving, the Lady Falcons rolled out to a 12-0 lead. The Lady Falcons rarely had to do anything offensively in the run except knock the ball over the net. Lewis and Clark made most of the mistakes. Mannino knocked down two kills and Sans Souci posted one kill.

However, it was the next 13 points which posed a problem for East Central. Listless play by the Lady Falcons and a comeback from Lewis and Clark ended with the host team outscoring East Central, 17-13 the rest of the way. While the Lady Falcons' lead never was threatened, the team struggled. A net violation handed the first game to the Lady Falcons.

In the second game, Lewis and Clark jumped out to the early lead. The Lady Trailblazers went up, 10-4, before East Central scored the next six points to tie it. However, the Lady Falcons could not take the lead at that time. East Central tied it again, 14-14, on an ace by Eggering (Winfield). With the match tied at 16-16, Mannino scored on a tip and then served an ace to give East Central the lead for good.

An error gave the Lady Falcons the second game, 25-18.

In the third game, the Lady Falcons broke loose early in the contest to cruise for most of the game. Ohlms served five points in a row, including two aces, to make it 14-4.

Bruns was able to rotate all of his healthy players into the game.

Two players, freshmen Aleisha Joyce (Carthage) and Kara Bowman (St. Dominic) missed the match due to injuries. Joyce is recovering from a Grade II sprained ankle suffered against St. Louis College of Pharmacy Oct. 5. Bowman suffered a mild concussion last Saturday in the second game against Illinois Central. Bowman continued to show her toughness by not only returning to finish the game (posting a season-high 25 digs in the process) and play in the next match against Jefferson College.