LAKEWOOD — Shining individual performances were overshadowed by a loss by the Lakewood Cougars in the their home opener Tuesday night.

The Cougar women lost the contest between the Falcons of South Whidbey in three straight sets 23-25, 24-26, and 17-25. Lakewood started out strong with an early lead, but wasn’t able to hold off a late rally by South Whidbey. The Cougars tried to regroup after the disappointing first set loss, but another late rally by the Falcons put the game in the coffin.

Lakewood multi-talent Liliya Kibitstkya set a new school record for 25 digs, while adding in eight kills. After the game, Liliya was proud of her accomplishment, but said she knew “the win would’ve been even more rewarding.”

She also said, “The team played with their heart tonight. Our younger players showed up to play today and gave South Whidbey a taste of defeat. Unfortunately we didn’t win, but overall the team played well.” Senior libero Sarah Boe also added 15 digs to the game for the Cougars.

Two days later, on Thursday night, the Cougars headed to the Shoreline to play King’s High School in a Cascade Conference match up. Lakewood lost to the Knights in three straight sets 22-25, 14-25 and 12-25. The Cougars host Archbishop Murphy in their next home game Sept. 25.