Cardinals fall to Pipestone Area
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FAIRMONT - Head coach Stacy Garbers put it perfectly following Fairmont volleyball's 19-25, 19-25, 22-25 loss to Pipestone Area on Thursday night.
"Everything that pretty much could go wrong did go wrong," Garbers said.
The Cardinals’ 18-14 cushion in set one quickly dwindled after six straight points from Pipestone Area. That momentum swing carried the rest of the contest. The Arrows stifled Fairmont's offensive rhythm while Kaysa Douty and Emersyn Smidt peppered spikes from the front row. Nothing went right for the home team after surrendering their early advantage.
"We didn't play as a team tonight," Garbers said. "It felt like we were playing against each other instead of with each other. ...We missed too many serves and didn't pass well. When that happens, it's tough to win games."
A pair of net hits from Adylen Laven and Nora Fitzgerald were followed by consecutive aces by Kailyn Burmeister. Burmeister's perfectly placed serves gave her team their largest advantage yet at 20-18. Outside hitter Brooke Einck finished the set with consecutive kills from the left.
The Arrows continued to march to start set two. Three kills from Douty and two more net hits from Fairmont pushed Pipestone Area up 8-3. Jadyn Montgomery and Fitzgerald strung some hits over the middle to claw the Cardinals back to a 9-9 tie.
Smidt and Avery Reinhard broke the tie with a spike and a gentle tap over the net. Pipestone Area never looked back. Douty built up the Arrows’ lead with a kill and an ace. Laven's overhand attempt connected with the twine to secure a second Pipestone Area set.
"It was due to our passing," Garbers said on her offensive troubles. "When you can't start with a pass, it's hard to run an offense on a ball we have to set on the net or to the back row. We had times when we just couldn't put the ball down, unfortunately."
Pipestone Area ripped eight straight points and took a commanding 11-3 lead to begin set three. Three aces from Smidt and a handful of Fairmont misses fueled the run. The Arrows pushed the lead to 21-7 with, yet again, three more Smidt kills.
A missed serve by Pipestone Area began the most impressive rally Garbers' team showed yet. Kennedy Murphy's three aces and a middle tap over from Kaylee Kloeckner cut the deficit to under 10 points.
Montgomery started to get into a groove. A groove that continued the rally. Two kills and a block on Douty sparked three more points. She ended the seven-point surge with consecutive kills, placing the Cardinals down 23-21.
"I am proud of them and the fight they did show in the end. But we just didn't play Cardinal volleyball tonight," Garbers said.
Douty finished the job for the Arrows with her final kill of the night. Her hit from the left side sealed Pipestone Area's third win of the season. Montgomery recorded a team-high 12 kills, while Kloeckner notched nine. Ella Wubbena had 27 set assists and one ace. Fitzgerald had 14 digs and Lillian Ortega had 10.