The Fertile-Beltrami Falcons’ volleyball team won the first two sets and had a strong finish in the fourth set in a 3-1 win (25-15, 25-17, 20-25, 25-19) over the Lake Park Audubon Raiders on Tuesday night at Fertile-Beltrami High School. Tuesday was also senior night for Fertile-Beltrami. Seniors Sydney Bunker, Aubree Steffes and Annika Messick were honored before the game and briefly addressed the reduced crowd before the match.
SET ONE –
The first set started off fairly back-and-forth, but the Falcons built a healthy 18-11 lead and closed out strong the rest of the way to take the first set convincingly, 25-15. Juniors Aubree Swenby and Marin Roragen got things going early for the Falcons offensively, as Swenby knocked down five kills in the first set and Roragen had four. “It was great for us to be able to play hard and play aggressive,” Fertile-Beltrami head coach Kerri Solie said. “I thought our girls did a nice job of kind of coming out and setting the tone for the night.”
SET TWO –
Once again, the set started off in a back-and-forth manner, and many of the early points were well contested, but Fertile-Beltrami took advantage of a handful of serving and attacking errors by Lake Park Audubon, and controlled the second set for the most part as well, winning it 25-17. Marin Roragen was again solid with four kills in the frame. “Our girls came out with a lot of intensity and a lot of aggressiveness,” Falcons’ coach Solie said. “
SET THREE –
Lake Park Audubon jumped out to an early 7-5 lead, and never lost the lead after that in the fourth set. The Raiders got ahead 18-11, Fertile-Beltrami called timeout and went on a 5-0 run to make it an 18-16 score, but the Raiders fired off a 4-0 run of their own to go up 22-16, and ultimately close out the third set, winning 25-20. “In the third set, we kind of had some hitting errors that just kind of kept spiraling,” Coach Solie said. “We just couldn’t seem to put the ball down and Lake Park Audubon got a little momentum on us. I thought our girls did a great job of working together and playing as a team.”
SET FOUR –
Like the previous three sets, the fourth was hotly contested early on with four ties. The Raiders and Falcons were tied at 11, but then momentum started to sway back in the direction of Fertile-Beltrami, as the Falcons took a 16-13 lead in set four, which turned into a 23-19 lead and ultimately, a 25-19 victory in the fourth set. Aubree Steffes finished off a solid night with five kills in the fourth set. Marin Roragen had five kills in the final frame as well. “We told the girls before that last set that they just have to settle down a little bit,” Solie said. “When our passing improved and our blockers put up a big block, things went well for us. I thought Aubree Steffes did a nice job setting it up for the hitters and also taking some swings herself sometimes. They all did a nice job all the way around. Great teamwork tonight.”
Fertile-Beltrami improves to 7-3 on the season, while Lake Park Audubon falls to 3-4. Tuesday night’s JV match was canceled.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 25 | 25 | 20 | 25 |
| Lake Park Audubon | 15 | 17 | 25 | 19 |
For Fertile-Beltrami
Kills – Marin Roragen – 15, Aubree Swenby – 8
Digs – Marin Roragen – 23, Brooklyn Strem – 22
Assists – Aubree Steffes – 29
Blocks – Tori Erickson, Marin Roragen, Aubree Steffes – 3
Aces – Taylor Miller – 2
For Lake Park-Audubon –
Kills – Thea Mattson – 13
Blocks – Thea Mattson, Brynn Stalberger – 2
Aces – Maddie Thompson – 2
