The #7 ranked Sacred Heart Eagles came up with several small runs in each set to beat the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-21) in a matchup of the top two teams in Section 8A at the Sacred Heart High School gymnasium. Sacred Heart’s 6’0 senior, Lexi Lawrence recorded the 1,000th career kill in the match.
FIRST SET
The match was a dandy to start, as both teams went to their big hitters from the start. Fertile-Beltrami’s Miley Fladhammer started it off with a big swing and a kill. The teams were tied at 1 and 2 before the Falcons were called for a double hit, and Sacred Heart’s Lexi Lawrence had a big kill for a 4-2 lead. Fertile-Beltrami countered with two kills from Mya Erickson to the set at 4-4. Sacred Heart had a 7-5 lead when they went on a 7-1 run with three service aces and a kill from Lexi Lawrence, along with two kills by Lydia Riskey and a kill by Stella Riskey for a 15-7 lead. Sacred Heart had a Brynn Stevens and Lexi Lawrence kill to build a 20-10 lead and outscored the Falcons the rest of the set to win 25-13 on a Stella Riskey block for a kill.
SECOND SET
The teams were tied at 1 and 2 before Brynn Stevens had a block and Lydia Riskey added a kill for a 4-2 lead. Sacred Heart was called for four hits before Lydia Riskey and Lexi Lawrence had a kill each for a 6-3 lead. Fertile-Beltrami bounced back while taking advantage of two Eagle attack errors to get within a 6-5 deficit. The teams played even with the set tied at 15. Fertile-Beltrami hit into the net before Sacred Heart’s Lawrence had a big kill. After a Falcon error, Lawrence added another kill for a 19-15 lead. Sacred Heart was in the net before Lawrence added another kill. The Falcons hit out of bounds, before Lawrence was set in the back row and hammered an attack across for a kill. The kill was the 1,000th of her career and the first time she had a kill from the back row in her career. Stella Riskey added a kill, and with the score 24-17, Lydia Riskey had a kill to win the set 25-17 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
THIRD SET
The teams were tied at 1, 2, and 3 before two Falcon errors gave Sacred Heart a 5-3 lead. Fertile-Beltrami battled back to tie the set at 9-9 with an Indigo Oistad service ace. The teams exchanged points and were tied at 14 after an Oistad kill. Sacred Heart scored three straight points after a Falcon attack error, a Bryn Stevens ace, and a Lawrence kill for a 17-14 lead. Fertile-Beltrami continued to battle and showed a ton of scrappiness. Trailing 19-15, the Falcons’ Mya Erickson had a kill followed by an ace. After a Macy Petry kill, Erickson followed with another ace to tie the set at 19-19. Sacred Heart’s Lawrence had a kill, and Stella Riskey added a kill for a 21-19 lead. Sacred Heart led 22-21 when Lydia Riskey had a kill, and Fertile-Beltrami was called for back-to-back four hits, and Sacred Heart won the set 25-21, to win the match 3-0.
Sacred Heart improves to 10-0 on the year and will travel to Badger/Greenbush-Middle River on Thursday. Fertile-Beltrami drops to 4-2 on the year with both losses to Sacred Heart, and will host Red Lake Falls on Thursday.
J.V. – Fertile-Beltrami won 2-1 (19-17 in 3rd set) C Squad – Sacred Heart won 2-1
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 13 | 17 | 21 |
| Sacred Heart | 25 | 25 | 25 |
For Sacred Heart
Kills – Lexi Lawrence 17, Lydia Riskey 9, Bryn Stevens 7
Blocks – Gretta Effhauser, Lydia Riskey, Stella Riskey, and Bryn Stevens with 1 each
Digs – Claire Adolphson 16, Lydia Riskey 13, Lexi Lawrence 11
Assists- Finley Horken 39
Aces –Lexi Lawrence 3, Bryn Stevens 3
For Fertile-Beltrami
Kills –
Blocks –
Digs –
Assists-
Aces –
