LEE, Mass. – It took a lot of long hours and hard work to get Lee High senior Juliana Schuerer to the threshold of the 1,000-assist plateau.

 

And when the time came, she blew through the milestone.

 

Schuerer set up Mika Diller for her sixth assist of the night and the 1,000th of her career midway through the first set of a 25-12, 25-11, 25-16 win over Duggan Academy in the quarter-finals of the Western Massachusetts Class D tournament.

 

“It felt good,” said Schuerer, who finished the night with 26 assists. “My sister [MaKayla] got it before me, and I like following her in this area. It was pretty cool.”

 

Juliana played as a sophomore the night MaKayla hit No. 1,000. So did Karalynn Hopkins, the Wildcats’ top hitter who was on the receiving end of hundreds of sets from both Schuerer sisters.

 

“Me and Julliana had a pretty big connection,” said Hopkins, who put down a team-high seven kills and pulled up five digs in Tuesday’s win. “We’ve been playing together since seventh grade – and not just through Lee but also on AVA together.

 

“So we have great chemistry together. And, honestly, she can work with all of us. Every single one of us can work with her. She’s a great setter, and we love her.”

 

Much like her big sister, who currently plays for the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Juliana Schuerer gets love from her coach for her work ethic.

 

“Juliana is a really hard worker through the seven years she’s been in our program,” Julia Warner said. “She works hard on and off the court. She’s all that you want in a leader – not just as a player but also with a really positive mindset.

 

“And she’s always lifting people up around her. I’m really proud of her for getting this. This is a huge milestone, I think only the fourth in the program’s history.”

 

Assist No. 1,000 gave Lee an 11-4 lead in the first set.

 

Lee built an 8-1 lead with a seven-point run on the serve of Alexis Masten (eight aces, six kills, eight digs) and never looked back.

 

Eighth-seeded Duggan was able to hold off a couple of set points before Lee came away with the 25-12 win and a 1-0 lead in the match.

 

That was the story of the night, really: Lee pretty much controlled the match and was never threatened, but Duggan – which dressed just seven players – was able to prolong things with its tenacious defense.

 

“They brought the ball back often,” Warner said. “We’ve been working in practice on trying not to prolong points and instead finish them off quickly. That’s something that we worked on a lot yesterday and tried to bring into today.

 

“And Duggan had some great defense. They had a lot of great digs. We were able to figure out where to swing and find the court. It was good for our offense to be in system a lot. We passed the ball well.”

 

Clare Davis led Lee with 10 digs and also served a pair of aces. Diller ended up with four kills.

 

As the match wore on, Warner turned over more and more of the playing time to her reserves, who were able to maintain the momentum and close things out in Lee’s fifth straight victory.

 

“I think this is how programs are built,” Warner said. “We are graduating six seniors next year. There’s a lot of playing time that is up for grabs, and it’s really great to get kids some experience in a post-season game. They all played great.

 

“It’s a pleasure to make sure we’re getting a lot of kids time, not just for tonight but also for the future of our program.”

 

In the near future, the Wildcats (13-5) are home again on Wednesday to face Pioneer Valley Christian in the regional semi-finals.

 

Photos from this match here.