“I was really proud that they didn’t let up at all,” Nicollet head coach Sarah Gieseke said. “They were swinging hard and their confidence level kept them in the game, because when they were swinging away and getting their kills, it gave them the momentum to keep on swinging hard.”

Madison Kettner led a balanced Raiders attack with 12 kills, along with four digs and an ace, while Megan Soost had 11 kills. Cheyenne Klockziem had six kills and four aces, while Kamryn Truebenbach had four kills, 11 digs and five aces. Chloe Kachelmeier added 14 digs.

For the Firebirds, Ella Nachreiner had seven kills, three blocks and an ace, while Lauren Schafer had six kills. Kora Schwarzrock had nine digs and three aces, and Maren Kemkes had seven set assists, with Natalie Ahlbrecht adding six set assists.

Nicollet started out slow with its service, committing four early service errors as the first set stood at a 12-12 tie. However, as the game wore on, it became a strength for the Raiders, starting with three consecutive aces by Klockziem to give Nicollet a 22-19 lead.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop’s Keyden Buboltz (13) and Kora Schwarzrock (14) rise up for a block against Nicollet’s Megan Soost (3) during a Tomahawk-Valley Conference crossover volleyball game Thursday at Nicollet High School.

“They’ve always been aggressive servers,” Gieseke said. “They just have to reel it in a little bit to keep it in bounds. But I do love the aggressiveness that they were trying for their jump-serves and hitting deep corners.”

Nicollet finished the first set with a 8-0 run, finished off by a kill from Soost.

The Raiders kept that momentum going in the second set, starting with 5 consecutive points with three more kills from Soost. GFW called a timeout down 8-1 and recovered, going on a 10-3 run to tie the game at 11 after an ace by Schwarzrock and a block from Nachreiner. GFW took a lead and extended it to 17-13 after a series of kills by Lauren Schafer and Keyden Buboltz. But Nicollet seized the momentum and tied the game at 18, forcing a GFW timeout.

“We just want to work out as a team and work together,” Truebenbach said. “We just focus on the next point and the energy. Make sure you’re getting a good pass, work together, talk, play as a team.”

The Firebirds went on a quick 3-0 run capitalized by a kill by Schwarzrock, but Nicollet went on a 6-1 run in response thanks to two kills by Payten Otto. GFW managed 2 more points to tie it at 24, but Nicollet wrapped it up with a kill from Otto and an error to win 26-24.

Set 3 continued to be close, with the teams staying within a few points of each other all the way out to a 16-16 tie. Nicollet took a 19-16 lead thanks to a strong series of serves by Truebenbach.

“We like to serve pretty aggressive and come out aggressive and do our best,” Truebenbach said. “Hit it as hard as we can.”

But GFW held on, staying within 22-20 thanks to a kill by Schafer. However, Nicollet ended the game by taking 3 of the next 4 points, including a kill by Klockziem.

Nicollet (1-2) hosts Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart on Monday, while GFW (0-3) plays at Sleepy Eye on Tuesday.