The Sacred Heart Eagles’ offensive weapons were too much as Lydia Riskey had 17 kills and Lexi Lawrence added 16 to lead their team to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-10) victory over the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons in the Section 8A Volleyball semi-finals at the University of Minnesota Crookston.
FIRST SET
Both teams came out swinging to start the match, with Mya Erickson and Lydia Riskey exchanging kills. Then, an Erickson ace catapulted the Falcons to a quick 4-1 lead. Lexi Lawrence got a kill right back, but great Falcon defense gave them a 7-3 lead. That would continue with a Bailet Iverson ace to put them up 9-3. Sacred Heart needed an answer, and they got one, as three consecutive Izzy Cwikla aces tied the set at 9. The Falcons got the lead at 10-9, and it stuck at 1 for the Falcons, as they had an answer each time the Eagles tried to take the lead. Sacred Heart took the lead back at 14-13, and the gap stayed at 1 until a Lydia Riskey kill made it 17-15. It was the Falcons’ turn to answer, but yet another Cwikla ace made it 20-16 Eagles. This gave all the momentum to Sacred Heart, and it was too much to overcome, as the Eagles pulled away to a 25-17 set 1 victory.
SECOND SET
Sacred Heart used their momentum of a 9-2 run to end the first set with a great start to the second set. Lexi Lawrence was on a roll, getting three kills in the opening stages, and all of a sudden the Eagles had an 11-4 advantage. Fertile-Beltrami did a great job clawing back, going on a 4-1 run to get the lead down to 4 at 12-8, but a Stella Riskey block capped off a spurt for the Eagles, putting them up 15-8. The Falcons got a little closer, as back-to-back Tessa Opdahl blocks, then an Opdahl kill, brought the gap down to 3 at 16-13. An errant serve gave the ball back to the Eagles, however, but the teams would alternate points as a result. At 19-16, a Lydia Riskey kill put the Eagles up by 4, but they couldn’t pull away. A Bryn Stevens block put the Eagles up 5, but the Falcons closed the gap down to 3 with another Opdahl kill. The gap became 2 at 23-21 with a Madison Stueness kill, but Lexi Lawrence put the Falcons away with back-to-back kills, ending the second set with a 25-21 win, putting the Eagles up 2 sets to none.
THIRD SET
In the third set, Sacred Heart took full control. They opened up on a 6-2 run, as both Lexi Lawrence and Lydia Riskey broke double figures in kills. After an early Falcon timeout, the Eagles continued to be relentless, scoring at will and capitalizing on Falcon errors. This amounted to a 9-3 run out of the timeout, putting the Eagles up 15-5 with their first double-digit lead in any set to this point. Though the Falcons would get more kills from Tessa Opdahl and Bailey Iverson, the persistent offense took its toll, and the Eagles cruised to a 25-10 victory to win the match 3-0.
Sacred Heart improves to 28-1 on the year and will play in the Section 8A Championship on Friday. Fertile-Beltrami ends the season at 23-7 and say goodbye to six seniors – Torrin Gorder, Reese Bruggeman, Tessa Opdahl, Hailey Gudvangen, Madison Stueness, Britta Sorenson.
Click below to listen to Sacred Heart Coach Emily Vonasek’s comments-
Click below to listen to Fertile-Beltrami Coach Kerri Solie’s comments –
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 17 | 21 | 10 |
| Sacred Heart | 25 | 25 | 25 |
For Sacred Heart
Kills – Lydia Riskey – 17, Lexi Lawrence – 16
Blocks – Stella Risei – 2, Lydia Riskey – 1, Bryn Stevens – 1, Adley Vigness – 1
Digs – Lydia Riskey – 22, Finley Horken – 19, Izzy Cwikla – 15
Assists – Finley Horken – 33
Aces – Izzy Cwikla – 4, Finley Horken – 1
For Fertile-Beltrami
Kills – Tessa Opdahl – 12, Madison Stueness – 7
Blocks – Tessa Opdahl – 2, Mya Erickson – 1,
Digs – Madison Stueness – 13, Bailey Iverson – 12, Reese Bruggeman – 12
Assists – Bailey Iverson – 18, Tori Gorder – 5
Aces -Bailey Iverson – 2, Mya Erickson – 1
