Wildcats move to 3-0 in North Suburban

Forest Lake 3, Chisago Lakes 1 Although Chisago Lakes would’ve loved to beat Lakes Area rival Forest Lake, the subsequent loss to them at least didn’t affect their North Suburban standings. The Wildcats struggled to pass well in the first set and the Rangers took advantage of that, winning 25-16. In the second set, things went down to the wire, with the ball going back and forth between the two teams. With Forest Lake up 25-24, a timely kill from them gave them the two point win and two set lead in the match. “We played really well in the second set, and it could’ve gone either way,” Head Coach Ashley Jamros said.

“It would have been a totally different match had we won that one.” In the third set, Chisago Lakes got their lone win of the match, winning 25-22, but because of their close loss in the second set, they still trailed 2-1 instead of being up 2-1. In the third set, the Rangers quickly closed out the Wildcats, beating them 25-17. The junior trio of Sydney Powell, Tori Kildow and Bryanna Fernstrom had 30 kills and setter Nicole Johnson had 27 assists. Chisago Lakes 3, St. Louis Park 0 The Wildcats kept their unblemished record intact in the North Suburban Conference with a drubbing of the St. Louis Park Orioles. SLP provided a stiff test in the first set, and was up 6-0 at one point. But, Chisago Lakes battled back and kept pressuring St. Louis Park’s slowly-crumbling defense. The Wildcats eventually escaped the first set with a 26-24 victory, and it was smooth sailing from there on out.

They won 25-11 in the second set and then finished the sweep off with a 25-20 victory. Powell led the way with 12 kills and Fernstrom had eight. Many of Chisago Lakes’ points in the second and third set came off of errors by the St. Louis Park defense. Big Lake Tournament The Wildcats headed west for a tournament hosted by their future Mississippi 8 Conference foes. After opening with an loss to Hibbing, Chisago Lakes rebounded for three straight wins. They bested Irondale 25-23, 25-17, then swept Foley 25-10, 25-11, and then finished their tournament off with another victory over Irondale. They beat the Knights the second time 25-12, 25-15. The ‘Cats hosted out-of-conference foe Maple Grove earlier this week, and they face Columbia Heights on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. at home.