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STMA 3

Chisago Lakes 0

Small victories.

Even though they knew it was a possibility, the Chisago Lakes volleyball team went into their match St. Michael-Albertville last Thursday, not expecting to win. Instead, the ‘Cats were worried more about improving with sections fast approaching.

The Knights were a good team to play against. Easily one of the best teams in the conference, if not the best, St. Michael presented a unique challenge on both sides of net.

St. Michael showed just how explosive they can be right away, mounting a huge lead in game one. Leading by double-digits, Chisago Lakes answered late in the first game with a small run, stealing back some momentum. Even though the Knights won the game 25-11, the ‘Cats began to put some things together. Small victories.

Chisago carried that play over to the second game, building a 9-7 lead at one point. However, after a St. Michael timeout, the Knights kicked it into overdrive, outscoring Chisago 18-6 the rest of the way, grabbing a 25-15 win in game two. Still, once again, the Wildcats showed they could play. Small victories.

“Our passing was really good, but we really couldn’t do anything at the net,” replied Nicole DeVries, Chisago Lakes head volleyball coach. “We were really aggressive, so that was fun to see.”

That aggressiveness crept into the third game as well, even though the score didn’t reflect that. St. Michael finished the ‘Cats off with a 25-10 win, defeating Chisago three games to none. However, at the end of the game, DeVries had a lot to be proud of.

“Our serving was at 95 percent, our digs were at 79 percent, and our serve receive was at 81 percent. We did some things really well. St. Michael was a very good team, they had a great offense to go along with their defense,” said DeVries. “We knew going in that they were going to be really tough. We did well, but you can’t go anywhere without an attack. You have to be able to get the ball down and be able to block at the net. Those two areas really hurt us and we need to continue to improve on that.”

With three games this week, the ‘Cats will get more than enough time to do just that. Mora, Foley and Zimmerman are all on the way before the Wildcats finish the season next Tuesday at the Sartell Invite.

STMA 3

Chisago Lakes 0

Game One-

STMA 25, Chisago Lakes 11

Game Two-

STMA 25, Chisago Lakes 15

Game Three-

STMA 25, Chisago Lakes 10

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