The Fertile-Beltrami Falcons gave the Bearcats everything they could handle, but it just wasn’t enough as Kittson County Central defeated the Falcons 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-18, 25-20) to advance to the Section 8A Finals at UMC on Friday night.
FIRST SET
The first set started with a bang with both teams alternating points until a Kaydence White kill made it 4-3 Bearcats. However, the Falcons did a great job of keeping it close and capitalizing on Bearcat errors, and then a Madison Stueness kill allowed them to go up 8-5. Fertile-Beltrami then took a 10-5 lead, and the Falcons looked to continue building a lead. That lead stayed at 5 until the Bearcats began to claw their way back, as kills from White and Lauryn Whitlock brought them back to an 18-15 deficit. Then, Morgan Turn got in on the fun, and Kittson County Central was able to tie the match up at 20-20. They got the lead to 23-21, but another Stueness kill sent the match to 23-23 and a Bearcat timeout. The Bearcats came out of the timeout and scored the last two points to take a 25-23 set win.
SECOND SET
The second set became a story of runs, with Fertile being the beneficiary. After KCC scored the first 4 points, Fertile-Beltrami ratted off 9 in a row to go up 9-4. The Bearcats tried to claw back, but Stueness caught fire, and her 4th kill of the set made it 11-6 Falcons. The lead hovered around 5 with the teams exchanging points. KCC cut the lead to 3 on a kill by Berlyn Strege, and that got the Bearcats rolling again in the set. Another Stueness kill kept the lead at 3, at 14-11, and the Falcons started to find their gear, leading to incredibly high-level play. At 15-12, a powerful Morgan Turn kill cut the lead to 2, and another Strege kill tied it at 15. The lead stayed tied at 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 until a Brooke Fladhammer block gave the Falcons the lead, and a kill attempt wide made it 22-20 Falcons. Then, yet another Stueness kill put it away for the Falcons, winning it 25-20 and evening the match at a set apiece.
THIRD SET
Kaydence White kicked off set three with two consecutive kills, and Brooke Fladhammer answered with two of her own. After a serve receive error gave the Falcons the lead, they maintained a 1-point advantage until White tied it at 4. KCC extended the lead to 6-4, and the lead stayed at 2 until a Turn kill made it 9-6 KCC. A Mya Erickson ace cut the lead to 10-8, but a Turn kill quickly made it 12-8 Bearcats. The lead stayed at 4 until a couple Falcon mistakes made it 17-10 KCC. The Bearcats continued to roll until a Torrin Gorder ace made it 18-13 KCC. However, the Falcons were not phased. A Strege kill made it 21-13, and the Bearcats were then able to cruise to a 25-18 set win, going up 2 sets to 1.
FOURTH SET
Fertile-Beltrami started the fouth set with the hot hand, as a Mya Erickson block gave them an early 5-3 lead. KCC did a good job of hanging around, with the help of their only ace of the match by Morgan turn, but at 10-8, the Falcons kicked things into high gear, scorching their way to a 6-0 run with the help of two Fladhammer and Opdahl kills each to build a 16-8 lead. It seemed that the Falcons would cruise to a set 4 win, but the Bearcats had other ideas, as out of a timeout, they exploded on a 10-0 run with the help of SIX Kaydence White kills to go up 18-16. Fertile-Beltrami kept things close, and capitalized on an error to cut the lead to 20-19, but the Bearcats then showcased why they are one of the best teams in the state, ending the match on a 5-1 run to win the fourth set 25-20, winning the match 3 sets to 1.
Fertile-Beltrami’s outstanding season comes to an end with a 25-5 record and they say goodbye to the following seniors – Brooke Fladdhammer, Dani Kresl, Grace Proulx, and Lexi Defang.
Kittson County Central improves to 26-5 and will play Ada-Borup-West at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 23 | 25 | 18 | 20 |
| Kittson Co. Central | 25 | 20 | 25 | 25 |
For Fertile-Beltrami-
Kills – Madison Stueness 14, Brooke Fladhammer 11
Blocks – Tessa Opdahl 5, Brooke Fladhammer 2
Digs – Madison Stueness 25, Reese Bruggeman 19
Assists- Bailey Iverson 23
Aces – Reese Bruggeman, Mya Erickson 2
For Kittson County Central
Kills – Kaydence White 23, Morgan Turn 16
Blocks – Kaydence White 2
Digs – Berlyn Strege 23, Afton Lindgren 19
Assists- Afton Lindgren 25
Aces – Morgan Turn 1
