ALAH volleyball finishes runner-up in LPC tourney; place third in PBL tourney

By Editor | October 14, 2025 |

By Mike Monahan

KANSAS – Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond’s volleyball team, one that is 20-9, and was seeded second in the Lincoln Prairie Conference Tournament, had no trouble advancing to the championship game. The Knights took care of Sullivan 25-16, 25-1 in the semifinals. ALAH faced Unity Christian in the title game, but lost 25-17, 25-20.

Arthur played the Lions Oct. 4 in the Mahomet-Seymour Tournament and lost 27-25, 25-20.

“That was a surprise for us,” said ALAH coach Emily Crossman. “They actually changed the pools right before the tournament. We didn’t prepare for playing them. It was interesting to get a crack at them before it was the LPC tourney championship. It did give us confidence knowing that we could battle with them the entire match.”

Two days later the Knights returned to action in the Paxton Buckley Loda tournament and placed third. ALAH started the day with a 19-25,25-15, 17-15 loss to Lexington. The Knights bounced back with three straight wins; starting with a 25-13, 25-12 win over Milford; a 21-25, 25-10, 15-10 triumph and a big 25-12, 25-18 win over Monticello for third.

Bella Romine and Karlaline Vanausdoll made the all-tournament team. Romine finished the day with 5 aces (tied with Annabell Vanausdoll for tops on the team in the tourney), was second in kills with 30 kills, and eight digs, while Karaline Vanausdoll had 3 aces, a team-high 57 digs and four assists.

In the first set of the LPC title game it was 6-3 Unity Christian when the Lions went on a 7-2 run to lead 13-5. During the run Abby Jones served two and Ava Sauermann had three getting help from a set by Mallory Harrison and a kill by Briella Bunch. The Knights were still within striking distance, trailing 14-11 when the Lions took a 21-11 lead as Ainsley Gerhard served six points, including two of the team’s six aces (in the match). The Knights did get within five, 22-7, but that was as close as they would get.

The second set was closer with seven ties, including at 20. Neither team led by more than the final margin of five. After Arthur hit the ball out to give the Lions the lead for good at 21-20. Sadie Reliterman served the final four points, including kills by Bunch and Laila Turner.

The Knights had five aces and three service errors. ALAH led only 1-0 and 2-1. The Unity Chrisitan outside blocks gave the Knights problems.

“They have a good block (outside) and we worked on coverage, but in game the speed is fast and different, but we talked about recovering from the blocks and making plays out of it because it seemed to terminate more often than not,” said Crossman.

Unity Christian won its fourth straight LPC tourney title and improved to 22-6 under Arthur graduate Rhonda Glidewell.

“We talked about this exact match since the summer,” said Crossman. “All of our preparation and weightlifting and conditioning was because we knew that we would be here tonight and thought we would likely face Unity Christian. To make it here was definitely a goal of ours. We obviously didn’t pull through all the way. The good news is we get another chance at them in two weeks to win the conference outright. So, that is still on the table. We have some work to do between now and then.”

For the LPC tournament Annabelle Vanausdoll had 26 digs and five aces, while Annabelle Vanausdoll had 33 assists. Summer Melton had 26 kills, while Romine added 16.

“Bella is a dynamic player,” said Crossman. “She has a nice vertical and a fast arm. We just have to have the ball control there to be able to set her when we want and as much as we want to relieve some of the pressure the outsides get for the block and kind of distract the middle blocker a little bit. She is a fantastic player and she wants the ball and is hungry. There is a competitive side to her that I like a lot.”

As for the season Crossman said, “It seems like we are one end of the spectrum or the other. We had a great game against Monticello (14-8) (27-25, 23-25, 7-25 on Sept. 29) and that was some great competition that helped prepare us and then we had the Mahomet tournament where we played some really big schools that challenged us. Even though we are taking on losses on our record that should pay off for us in the post season.”

Saturday at Paxton Buckley Loda Tournament

Lexington def. ALAH 19-25, 25-15, 17-15

ALAH def. Milford 25-13, 25-12

ALAH def. Paxton Buckley Loda 21-25, 25-10, 15-10

ALAH def. Monticello 25-12, 25-18

ALAH: Karaline Vanausdoll 3 aces, 57 digs, 4 assists; Morgan Casteel 4 aces, 11 digs, 27 assists; Annabelle Vanausdoll 5 aces, 0.5 blocks, 22 digs, 56 assists; Brynlee Moore 3 aces, 15 digs; Summer Melton 35 kills, 0.5 blocks, 5 digs; Bella Romine 5 aces, 30 kills, 5 blocks, 8 digs; Leighton Poulos 4 aces, 22 digs; McKenna Blaudow 10 kills, 3 digs; Addison Dixon 5 kills, 2.5 blocks, 3 digs; Savannah Butcher 13 kills, 4.5 blocks

Thursday Lincoln Prairie Conference Tournament championship

Decatur Unity Christian def. Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond 25-17 25-20

ALAH: Karaline Vanausdoll 2 aces, 9 digs, 2 assists; Casteel 3 digs, 9 assists; Annabelle Vanausdoll 0.5 blocks, 4 digs, 9 assists; Melton 7 kills, 3 digs; Romine 5 kills; Poulos 1 ace, 4 digs; Blaudow 6 kills, 3 digs; Sophie Monts 1 ace, 4 digs; Dixon 0.5 blocks, 1 dig; Butcher 2 kills, 1 block.

Oct. 7 Lincoln Prairie Conference Tournament semifinals at Kansas

ALAH def. Sullivan 25-16, 25-19

ALAH: Karaline Vanausdoll 8 digs; Casteel 5 digs, 3 assists; Annabelle Vanausdoll 3 ace, 1 kill, 3 digs, 13 assists; Moore 1 dig; Melton 8 kills; Romine 4 kills, 1 block, 1 dig; Poulos 1 ace, 8 digs; Blaudow 5 kills, 2 digs; Monts 3 aces, 1 dig; Dixon 1 kill, Butcher 1 kill

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