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Knights serve five-set comeback win to Chargers

By Ari Selvey 5 min read

NEW ULM -- After dropping the first two sets of a South Central Conference volleyball match at Minnesota Valley Lutheran on Thursday, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial had a big hole to dig out of.

But dig out of it the Knights did, taking the final three sets to win 25-27, 13-25, 27-25, 25-21, 15-11.

"It took for them to believe in themselves and believe in each other," LCWM head coach Kim Thorson said. "They really came together at the end and started playing the game that we know how. Doing the little things right, getting the pass and going to our hitters."

The serve proved to be an asset for the Knights all game long, putting the Chargers out of system.

"Putting any team out of their normal system is good," Thorson said. "Getting them out so we can keep playing offense and keeping them on the defense is a good way to get an advantage in any sort of game."

MVL was able to adjust to the serve in the first half, but LCWM continued to put the pressure on, breaking through the defense to earn the win.

"There are going to be lots of serves where they are so good you can't do a lot about it," MVL head coach Johanna Kelly said. "But the serves where you can get a hand on it, you really need to execute then offensively after getting that ball up. Lake Crystal is a great serving team, and they hit their spots tonight, that's for sure."

Nev Parsons led the Knights with 14 kills and 28 digs, while Katie Hanson had 14 kills. Allice Hollerich and Maddie Madsen each had 10 kills, while Reese Palmer had 40 set assists.

Jenna Bates paced the Chargers with 17 kills and 17 digs, while Olivia Hammer had 11 kills, five digs and two aces. Emmalie Fluegge had four kills and four blocks, and Graysie Black had 40 set assists, 10 digs, four kills, three aces and two blocks. Taryn Gunderson had 30 digs, three kills and two aces.

MVL started off the first set with a 6-2 lead after kills by Hammer and Bates. The Chargers pushed that out to a 14-4 advantage as Bates had a kill and a block and Fluegge added a kill and LCWM took its second timeout of the set. The Knights recovered, chipping away at the lead with kills from Madsen, Hollerich and Parsons to make it a 20-17 game as MVL called a timeout. The Knights tied the game at 22 on a kill from Hollerich as MVL called another timeout, and the set stayed tied at 24-24. MVL closed out the set with a 3-1 run, led by a kill from Alexis DeVoss, to hold off LCWM for a 27-25 win.

The second set was the most decisive of the night, with the Chargers jumping out to a 9-4 lead and going up by as much as 22-9. A kill by Black, an ace by Hammer and a kill by Bates ended the set with a 25-13 MVL win.

"First couple of sets, we did a really good job of staying in system and getting the ball to our setter so she could do whatever she wanted on offense," Kelly said. "Keeping our offense open was the big positive in the first two sets tonight."

MVL looked like it was going to run away with a sweep after starting off Set 3 with a 9-2 advantage on a kill by Fluegge, but LCWM found an advantage, tying the game at 12 on a kill by Hollerich soon after. The teams traded points for several severs, but the Knights took a 23-18 lead after a quick 4-0 run. MVL fought back to cut the advantage to 23-24 on a combined block from Black and Fluegge, then tied the game at 25 on a LCWM error. BUt the Knights took the final 2 points of the match, with Parsons and Hollerich earning kills for the 27-25 win.

And once the Knights gained the advantage, they didn't let it go, as the LCWM passing started to be more and more consistent.

"It really takes communication," Thorson said. "The girls need to talk to each other -- is it short, is it deep, is it in, is it out, what are we going to do with it, and then talking to each other so they know who is going to get the ball and getting it up to Reese so she can get it up to our hitters."

Riding the momentum, LCWM started hot in Set 3, going up 14-6 and forcing an MVL timeout. The Chargers cut the lead to 15-11 on a kill from Kam Davey, but LCWM stabilized, holding a 21-16 lead after a kill by Hanson. MVL continued to fight, battling to a 23-21 deficit after a pair of Bates kills, but a kill by Madsen and an error gave LCWM its second match win.

The Knights held a narrow advantage early in the final set, with a kill by Madsen putting the score at 8-6. The teams traded points, with Hammer and Madsen each earning two kills for their teams and MVL called a timeout down 12-10. A block by Hanson was followed by a serving error to make it 13-11, but LCWM was able to close out the set with a kill by Hanson and an MVL error to complete the comeback.

LCWM (7-4, 2-1) plays in a tournament at Tri-City United on Saturday, while MVL (8-3, 0-2) plays at Sibley East on Tuesday.

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