It looks like Lakewood has found the missing pieces it needed, and the rest of Southern California had better look out. With Zyaire Garrett back in the lineup and freshman Laura Williams looking like a potential star, the Lancers are going to be hard to stop. They were nearly flawless in a 55-minute sweep of Villa Park to close out the Steve Lewis Volleyfest, winning 25-10, 25-13, 25-11.
Garrett has missed the whole season to this point with a knee injury and likely won’t be cleared to play at the net for a bit. But her passing in the back row made it nearly impossible for VP to get a ball down.
“Getting Z back gives us a lot of energy in the back row,” said Lakewood coach Mike Wadley. “She’s been hungry to play, I’m happy for her to be back on the floor.”
Williams is just a freshman who’s now working her way into the lineup, but she’s taking a big load off of Julia Crawford’s shoulders. Crawford had more than half of Lakewood’s kills in their big wins but Williams and she tied for the lead with 10 apiece against VP.
Setter Moni Vivao staked her claim as the best all-around player on the floor with a dominant performance of 29 assists, eight digs, and nine kills.
“It’s nice playing with a more complete group, Z is a big part of our team,” said Vivao.
The Lancers will face Millikan and Wilson this week as they try to set up a league title showdown with Poly in two weeks.
