The Sacred Heart Eagles used a balanced offensive attack, which was led by Lexi Lawrence’s 17 kills, to bea the Climax-Fisher Knights 3-0 (25-16, 25-6, 25-22) in a Section 8A quarterfinal match at the Sacred Heart High School gymnasium in East Grand Forks.
FIRST SET
Sacred Heart scored the first two points on a Climax-Fisher service error and an attack error. The Knights bounced back to tie the set at 3 and 4. Sacred Heart got a point on a Knight attack into the net, followed by a Stella Riskey kill, and another Knight attack error, and the Eagles led 7-4. The teams battled back and forth, and Sacred Heart led 12-9 when they went on a 5-1 run. Climax-Fisher had four attack errors in the run while Brynn Stevens added a kill for a 17-10 lead. After a Climax-Fisher point, Lexi Lawrence hammered a kill for an 18-11 lead. Sacred Heart continued to pull away and had a 24-16 lead when the Knights served into the net and the Eagles won the first set 25-16.
SECOND SET
The teams were tied at two and three, and Climax-Fisher took a 4-3 lead with a Peyton Hoffman kill. It was all Sacred Heart after that as they went on a 16-1 run. Sacred Heart’s Lydia Riskey started the run with a kill, and after two Knight attack errors, Adley Vigness had a block for a kill, Lawrence followed with a kill for a 10-4 lead. After Sacred Heart was called for a lift, Sacred Heart’s Lawrence had three kills, and Vigness added two kills for a 15-5 lead. Sacred Heart added two more kills, followed by a Knight attack error, and a Claire Adolphson service ace to end the run with a 19-5 lead. Climax-Fisher’s Brooklyn Hoffman stopped the run with a kill, only to have Sacred Heart answer with six straight points. Lawrence started the run with a kill, Vigness and Lydia Riskey added kills. Finley Horken had a great kill on a second attempt, dumping it over the net, and after a Knight attack error, Lydia Riskey ended the set with a big-time kill for a 25-6 victory, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
THIRD SET
Sacred Heart jumped out to a 5-1 lead after Lydia Riskey started the set with two kills. After a Knight kill, the Knights hit an attack out of bounds, and Lawrence pounded a kill for a 5-1 lead. Climax-Fisher battled back to get within a 10-9 deficit. Sacred Heart’s Lydia Riskey had a kill before an Eagle serve went out of bounds. Sacred Heart answered with a 3-0 run with kills from Bryn Stevens and Lawrence for a 13-10 lead. Climax-Fisher battled back and trailed 18-17 when Kinley Korynta and Brooklyn Hoffman had kills to take a 19-18 lead. Sacred Heart’s Stella Riskey followed with a kill to tie the set at 19. Climax-Fisher’s Peyton Hoffman had a kill to give the Knights a 20-19 lead before Sacred Heart’s Lawrence had back-to-back kills. The Knights had an attack go out of bounds, before Lawrence had antoher kill for a 23-20 lead. Climax-Fisher bounced back with two points and Brooklyn Hoffman had a kill to get within a 23-22 deficit. The Knights had an attack out of bounds before Lexi Lawrence blasted a kill, her 17th kill of the match, to give Sacred Heart a 25-22 victory to win the match 3-0.
Sacred Heart improves to 28-1 on the year and will play Fertile-Beltrami in the Section 8A semi-finals on Tuesday, October 28 at the University of Minnesota Crookston. Climax-Fisher ends their season 17-11 on the year and say goodbye to three seniors – Kadence Korynta, Anna Nesvig, and Claire Erickson.
Click below to listen to Sacred Heart Coach Vanasek’s comments
Click below to listen to Climax-Fisher coach Brenda Slyt’s comments
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Climax-Fisher | 16 | 6 | 22 |
| Sacred Heart | 25 | 25 | 25 |
For Sacred Heart
Kills – Lexi Lawrence – 17, Lydia Riskey -10, Adley Vigness – 4
Blocks – Adley Vigness-2, Stella Riskey – 2, Bryn Stevens -2
Digs – Izzy Cwikla – 11, Finley Horken – 7, Lydia Riskey-6
Assists – Finley Horken – 28
Aces – Claire Adolphson -1
For Climax-Fisher
Kills – Brooklyn Hoffman – 10, Peyton Hoffman – 7, Kinley Korynta – 5
Blocks – Claire Erickson -1, Peyton Hoffman -1
Digs – Brooklyn Hoffman – 12, Claire Erickson – 11, Kinley Korynta – 8
Assists – Kinley Korynta -10, Anna Nesvig-9
Aces – none
