“This was a great matchup to start our season as both teams play very scrappy defense and have the ability to make some huge defensive plays,” noted Isaman.  “With that said, we knew this match would come down to how the front rows would matchup and who would make the least amount of mistakes.”

Set one was a back-and-forth battle of long defensive rallies with neither team getting more than a 3-point run.  “We knew that if we could get ourselves in system that we had the potential to have the front row advantage,” stated Coach Isaman.  “Our passing was not at the level we wanted to bring our full power from the front row.  The front row did a good job staying aggressive and adjusting to the out of system play and it stayed a back-and-forth battle to the end, however, as sometimes first games of the year go, we gave them too many unearned points with a few missed serves and net violations.”

In set two the Vikings Defensive Specialists, Morgan Korf, Hazel Haugrud and Kelsey Isaman passed the ball better to get the team in system more and the front row took over the momentum with Ellie Welch delivering some early kills and a big block to shift the momentum to the Vikings.  With the set tied 12-12 the Falcons rattled off seven straight points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Set three saw the Vikings start strong with a 7-point run of their own.  Setter and middle hitter Anna Roisum made some good setting choices and increased her accuracy a bit to help the Pelican Rapids hitters put down the ball.  “Anna also got stronger at the net on the offensive end,” said Coach Isaman. “Outside hitter Kelsey Isaman got more aggressive on the offensive end as a back row player and had some nice kills out of the back row.  Morgan and Hazel made some adjustments on their pin hitters and we made some bigger defensive plays to give us the opportunity to fire back.  Right side hitter Grace Backstrom had a monster kill on the outside to shift momentum while her sister and opposite right side hitter Marie Backstrom played a solid game all night.  Marie got some quality block touches for us and did an amazing job adjusting to the out of system sets to aggressively keep the ball in play.”

Fatigue set in as the fourth set progressed and Park Christian was able to take advantage of some communication lapses on the court for the Vikings.  “We had a few good runs of great execution, but gave the Falcons too many unearned points off mental errors and gave them too many opportunities to run their quick offense which allowed them to seal the victory,” added Isaman.

Leaders for Pelican Rapids were Welch (6 kills, 2 block kills, 7 assists, 7 digs), Roisum (5 kills, 1 block kill, 11 assists, 6 digs), Isaman (4 kills, 12 digs), Korf (30 digs, 2 assists) and Haugrud (16 digs).

“Overall, this was a great matchup with two quick, athletic teams who battled some long and exciting rallies,” concluded Coach Isaman.  “We had times of great execution with power and complexity, unfortunately, as many first games show, we also had too much inconsistency with our ball control and communication that prevented the win.  This group is ready to get after it and prepare for when we travel to Hillcrest on Thursday.”