You could say the Lawrence High volleyball team relies on the energy that senior Emily Renfro provides. In Thursday night’s home triangular, the Lions’ energy was absent.

“We always expect the most out of Emily,” Lawrence coach Molly LaMere said. “If her game’s on, we’re usually on. She did a good job tonight, but every single one of us has a lot of improvements to make.”

Olathe South, behind the leadership of seven seniors, defeated LHS in two games, 25-12 and 25-21. The Lions then faced the Olathe Northwest Ravens and lost in two games, 25-12 and 25-13.

“You’ve got to be scrappy, because you know they’re going to hit the ball down, and if you’re not laying down on the floor you’re not going to win,” Renfro said. “Obviously, we didn’t hit the floor.”

In the first match, Olathe South (9-1) took control of the game on LHS service errors and shots that sailed out of bounds. Lawrence (1-4) also had trouble with opposing shots near the net. Olathe South had several blocks in the first game. Its players would gather in a huddle after each block and put their arms up in a volleyball-blocking motion to celebrate the points.

Lawrence High's Emily Bracciano dives for a serve against Olathe South. Bracciano, a defensive specialist, had several key digs in the Lions' losses to South and Olathe Northwest on Thursday at LHS.

“They’re really smart players and know where holes are open,” LaMere said. “We knew coming into it that we had to pick up our defense. It was just executing and getting kills that we lacked.”

In fact, Lawrence had only five kills in each game against Olathe Northwest (5-3).

One area LaMere said she was pleased with was LHS’ defense.

“Both those teams had great hitters that pound the ball,” LaMere said. “This is probably the best defensive team I’ve ever had.”

It all begins with the defensive specialist position, which typically retrieves opposing serves. In the case of LHS, junior Emily Bracciano handled that task Thursday.

“That’s one position I’m really comfortable with,” LaMere said. “For our setters, since they’re new, that makes their job a whole lot easier, not having to run around so much.”

Lawrence High's Amanda Weishaar returns a serve against Olathe South. The Lions were swept in both of their matches Thursday at LHS.

Bracciano had several digs in the two matches that helped LHS set up spike attempts. You might not realize how much of a mental process it is for defensive specialists to produce digs.

“First, you have to look at their hand to see if they’re actually going to hit it hard or if they’re going to hit it a little bit just to get it over the net,” Bracciano said. “You also have to pay attention to where you are on the floor. You have to think about it quite a bit.”

The Lions’ problem on Thursday was finishing these set-ups. Bracciano frequently saved points with digs, but LHS players were inaccurate hitting the ball to the other side.

“That was the one thing we weren’t doing, we weren’t putting balls down to finish the plays,” LaMere said. We were digging them, we were serving tough, but we didn’t have anybody to put a ball down.”

Looking forward, LaMere said the Lions’ mindset would have to change before the next match.

“The whole level of intensity and pursuit was a lot lower tonight than what we would have liked,” she said.