“The Cowgirls finished with a program sweep at Pelican Tuesday night,” reported Breckenridge Head Coach Margaret Wilson. “The three game match concluded with outsides Abby Johnson and Camryn Kaehler leading the offense with 19 kills and 10 kills, respectively.  Abby played very well; she was aggressive off the net and in the back row which was very nice to see. Camryn ended the final game with 3 kills straight that nicely finished the match.  All of our hitters were reading the court well and were taking advantage of their (Pelican’s) defensive holes.”

Serve receive and passing was spot on throughout the entire match with Riley Finkral leading the back row with 14 digs.  Johnson and Kaitlin Arnhalt contributed 9 digs apiece and Kaehler added 8.

“Riley Finkral is a defensive force to be reckoned with,” noted Coach Wilson.  “She has really taken on her captain’s role with her voice and presence in the back row.”

Blocking was huge for the Cowgirls’ front row with Jude Held leading with 3 assist blocks and 1 solo block and Tori Undem trailing closely with 2 assist blocks and 1 solo.

“It’s nice to see our front row get up and shut down the other team’s offense,” said Wilson. “We really want to hold onto the fourth place spot in our section to avoid the pigtail match next Monday and jump right into playoffs!”

Arnhalt led the Cowgirls with 17 set assists and Carcie Materi had 11.  As a team, Breckenridge served up ten aces, led by Johnson with 4, Arnhalt with 3 and Materi with 2.

“We honored our wonderful senior players and managers and their parents tonight,” stated Head Coach Heidi Isaman of the Vikings.  “Senior members of the volleyball program are Ryley Paulson, Riley Berg, Jenna Stetz, Britta Seiple, and Emily Vo.” 

Statistical leaders for the Vikings were Anna Stephenson (8 kills, 9 digs), Greta Tollefson (7 kills, 12 assists), Ryley Paulson (14 digs, 5 kills), Riley Berg (10 digs, 3 kills, 1 ace), Sophia Paulson (8 assists) and Kelsey Isaman (4 digs, 3 kills).

“The Vikings started very slow against the Cowgirls,” noted Coach Isaman.  “We serve received the ball very well but did show the aggressiveness on the offense or defensive end that we are capable of showing.  Set 2 we started to fix a few things and turn a few things around.  After an inconsistent first set, Sophia Paulson did a great job getting us to the tape so our hitters could swing away in set 2. Riley Berg really started to pick up her defense in the back row and Defensive specialists Kiera Booth and Emily Martinez did a great job to chase down balls and defend the holes on the court.  Our blockers stayed more disciplined lining up with their aggressive outside hitters and Middle hitter Greta Tollefson did a great job of aggressively finding the open court.  The Vikings had a close battle and played much better volleyball but came up short.  Set 3 the Vikings started strong.  Riley Berg made some great defensive plays and Kelsey Isaman and Ryley Paulson aggressively hit on the pin to power through their outside block.  Allie Haiby did a great job passing the ball for us and communicating in the back row.  We were back and forth with the cowgirls but then Breck went on a 9 point run.  The Vikings came back with a 5 point run of their own but it was not enough to seal the win.”

The Cowgirls and Vikings will both participate in the Fergus Falls tourney on Thursday to end the regular season and then start the section tourney next week.