“I think this is going to make us win more,” Springfield sophomore outside hitter Kendall Krueger said. “It just brought momentum for us.”

Krueger led the Tigers with 15 kills, 24 digs, two aces and a block, while Olivia Simonson had four kills and eight digs with two aces. Taylor Roiger had 17 digs, four aces and nine set assists, while Sophie Mude had 13 set assists, six digs and two aces. Delayna Johnson added three kills, seven digs and three aces.

“We switched the lineup a little bit, so I think that helped,” Springfield head coach Alissa Roiger said. “Knowing that we needed to get a win to get our confidence up and we came in with a change in our mental attitude, an I think that helped.”

For the Raiders, Payten Otto had nine kills and 13 digs, while Madison Kettner had eight kills, eight digs and 12 set assists. Lydia Martens had four kills, 18 set assists and seven digs with two aces. Chloe Kachelmeier had 23 digs, and Kamryn Truebenbach had seven kills 19 digs and three aces.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Nicollet’s Megan Soost (3) hits a volleyball off of Springfield’s Gabriella Schenk’s (12) arms during a Tomahawk-Valley Conference crossover Volleyball game Monday at Springfield High School.

Nicollet held onto a small lead early in Set 1, but Springfield went on a 5-0 run to go up 11-8. Kills by Krueger and Simonson helped the Tigers to a 17-12 lead, forcing a Nicollet timeout. Nicollet battled to a 19-16 deficit with kills from Otto and Truebenbach, but a 6-2 run by Springfield with an ace from Johnson and two kills from Krueger ended the set.

Nicolet again jumped out to a 7-4 lead on a block from Chloe Klockziem, but Springfield battled to take a 13-11 lead on an ace from Taylor Roiger. Nicollet cut the lead to 16-15 with help from a kill from Otto, but Springfield held on, with a kill from Johnson and aces from Olivia Simonson and Taylor Roiger sealed the 25-21 win.

Springfield stormed out to an 13-4 lead in the third set, with four kills from Krueger and blocks from Olivia Milbrath and Simonson paving the way. Nicollet called a timeout and stabilized, going on a 4-0 run with a kill from Truebenbach to cut the lead to 13-8. Nicollet continued to fight, putting up a strong block on Krueger to limit her to one kill for the remainder of the set. Two aces by Truebenbach and two kills from Kettner had the lead down to 19-18 as Springfield called a timeout. Nicollet ended the set on a 5-0 run, with an ace from Klockziem and a kill from Kettner closing it out.

Springfield adjusted to the Springfield block, getting Krueger going again in the fourth set.

“Having her attack the line, mixing up her hits a little bit,” coach Roiger said. “That helped her.”

Krueger said mixing in tips helped her to get around the block.

“I just focused on doing a few tips over just to get them off balance,” Krueger said. “I knew they thought I was going to hit it hard every time, and also just trying to tool it off the block.”

Krueger’s first kill of the set gave the Tigers an 8-3 lead, but Nicollet battled back to tie it at 9 with kills from Otto and Klockziem. The teams sat in a deadlock for several points, but it was Springfield that finally broke it with a 5-0 run with two kills from Krueger and two aces from Simonson to go up 21-16. Nicollet cut the lead to 21-18, but a pair of kills by Krueger ended the game 25-20.

Springfield (1-9) hosts Sleepy Eye on Thursday. Roiger said in order to improve, the team would need to take the same energy into the rest of the schedule.

“We were all super hyped the whole entire game,” she said. “And that’s what we need to continue winning.”

Nicollet (1-5) hosts Cleveland on Tuesday.