The Ada-Borup-West Cougars were led by their pair of NDSU Bison commits, Malyna Severson and Morgan Engle, as they powered past the Red Lake Falls Eagles 3-0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-12) at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
FIRST SET
Red Lake Falls had a great start to the match as they jumped out to a 4-2 lead. ABW bounced back with kills from Macie Thornton and Emersyn Borgen for a 4-4 tie. The teams were tied at 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11 before ABW went on a 9-0 run led by six kills from Malayna Severson (a 6’4 middle hitter that is going to play at NDSU next year). The teams played even the rest of the set as ABW had three attack errors in a row, and a little later, Red Lake Falls’ Shandi Nelson had a kill before the Eagles had two attack errors and a bad pass, and ABW won 25-17.
SECOND SET
ABW jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the second set, led by four kills and two aces from Morgan Engel (a 6’0 setter that will also play volleyball at NDSU next year). Red Lake Falls struggled to get any offense going in the set until Shandi Nelson had a kill to get within a 17-7 deficit. ABW took a 24-8 lead when Nelson had back-to-back kills to get within a 24-10 deficit, but the Cougars ended the set on a Severson kill for a 25-10 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.
THIRD SET
Red Lake Falls jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the Cougars had an attack that went out of bounds. ABW’s Engel tied the set at 2-2 to spark a 9-2 run. Severson, Engel, and Audrina Eggen all had kills in the run for a 10-4 lead. Red Lake Falls’ Rowan Kennett had a kill and after a Cougar kill, Kennett added another kill. ABW’s Engel followed with a kill before Kennett had another kill and the Eagles trailed 12-7. ABW went on an 8-2 run as Red Lake Falls had several attack errors, and the Cougars’ Taylor Stueness had a kill for a 20-9 lead. Red Lake Falls’ Makenna Hoefter had a kill and Nelson served up an ace to get within a 20-11 deficit. ABW finished the match strong with Severson’s 20th kill of the match, followed by a kill from Engel and after a couple of Red Lake Falls errors, the Cougars won the match with a 25-12 victory.
Red Lake Falls ends its fantastic year with a 24-7 record, and they say goodbye to six seniors – Reese Pahlen, Shandi Nelson, Makenna Hoefer, Hannah Robison, Kylie Klipping, and Kayla Schafer. Ada-Borup-West improves to 22-8 on the year and will take on the Sacred Heart Eagles in the Section 8A Volleyball championship on Friday, October 31 at 7:00 p.m. at UMC.
To listen to RLF Coach Nikki Gullingsrud’s comments, click below.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Red Lake Falls | 17 | 10 | 12 |
| Ada-Borup-West | 25 | 25 | 25 |
