Ashley Engen had a triple-double with 20 kills, 20 digs and 11 services aces, and her final ace gave Coon Rapids its last lead of the night in a 25-19, 22-25, 25-15, 23-25, 17-15 win over Cambridge-Isanti to snap a four-match losing streak.
The match featured 13 lead changes, the final change came when Lindsay Bratland killed a Paige Jones set and Engen followed with her 11th ace of the night to give the Cardinals a 16-15, fifth-set lead. Jones and Bratland then combined one their third block of the set to finish the match.
"We did a great job coming back," Coon Rapids head coach Heidi Ulwelling said. "We battled and came up with a win."
The opening set saw a series of runs cause a pair of lead changes but, with an 18-12 lead, the Cardinals appeared headed to a first-set win. A 7-1 run by the Bluejackets closed the gap to one-point and the teams traded points to give Coon Rapids the serve back with a 20-19 lead.
From there, Jones served out the set, ending streak of 12 consecutive sets lost by the Cardinals.
Cambridge-Isanti found itself trailing 4-0 and, eventually, 10-5, before mounting a comeback, using a 9-2 run to take a 14-12 lead, forcing a Coon Rapids timeout. The Cardinals would eventually come back to take an 18-17 lead on a pair of Engen service aces but it wasn't enough to derail the Bluejackets, who tied the match at 1-1.
The third set featured two big runs which resulted in the only lead change of the stanza. The Bluejackets scored the first three points of the set and then used a 6-0 run to take a 9-2 lead.
Facing a seven-point deficit, at 10-3, the Cardinals got the serve back and Engen took over, recording eight of her aces during an 11-point run which gave Coon Rapids a four-point lead, which it would not relinquish.
It appeared the Cardinals were headed for a four-set win when they took a 21-17 lead. The Bluejackets fought back, however, overcoming eight kills by Engen in the set, hitting .394 themselves with just one attack error, claiming a 25-23 victory to send the match to a fifth and deciding set.
That final set saw more tie scores (8) and lead changes (4) than any of the previous four sets.
Coon Rapids led much of the way in the fifth set. Cambridge-Isanti tooks its first lead when it scored four consecutive points to go ahead, 13-12. The teams would then trade two points apiece, with each serving for the match, before Bratland's kill tied the score for a final time, at 15-15, and the Cardinals then closed out the match.
Besides Engen's team season-highs in kills, digs and aces, Oliva Jung came off the bench to contribute 12 kills. Angela Koch had five kills along with two solo blocks and two block assists. Jones also had four blocks along with a season-high 43 assists.
The Cardinals continue their busy week by returning to Northwest Suburban Conference action, Tuesday, with a 7 p.m. match at Elk River.
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