Lafayette girls volleyball coach Steve Burkard had a bad feeling heading into the Lancers’ match Tuesday against Marquette.

“We had a horrible practice at the end on Monday,” Burkard said. “The girls just came out completely the opposite on Tuesday. We were very happy.”

Lafayette responded with a convincing 25-29, 25-16, 25-15 win over Marquette. Berkley Idel led the Lancers with 14 kills, Melanie Crow added 10 and Torrie Stellern had five blocks, including four solo.

Burkard credits assistant coach Sue Tillery for helping to get the Lancers refocused after Monday’s practice. Burkard said Tillery gave the players a tongue-lashing that seemed to spark the team.

“I think we were able to get Marquette out of their rhythm,” Burkard said. “Once they were out of rhythm, we were able to take the momentum away and we didn’t allow them to get the momentum back.”

Lafayette’s defense, led by Jordan Vehlewald, shined. Vehlewald recorded 20 digs with no errors and 20 serve receives with just one error.

“From that standpoint, we were able to get good balls to our setters, who were able to get good balls to our hitters,” Burkard said.

The win puts Lafayette (18-4-1 overall, 6-0 in conference) in the driver’s seat for the Suburban West crown. Marquette (19-3-4, 4-1) is Lafayette’s closest challenger.

“We try to take it one match at a time,” Burkard said. “Obviously, we’re concerned about conference first, then districts.”