In a match which featured 33 tie scores and 18 lead changes, including six lead changes in the final set, Champlin Park overcame a late deficit to score a 24-26, 25-14, 27-25, 16-25, 17-15 win over Coon Rapids.
Early on, the Rebels made the match look like it would be a runaway as they scored the first five points of the night. The Cardinals came back, behind the service of Chloe Jacobson, to tie the score at 6-6 but Champlin Park responded with a 7-1 and would eventually take a 20-11 lead in the opening set.
A Courtney Pasiowitz kill returned serve to the Cardinals at that point and, with Jacobson at the service line, they a 10-0 run to take a 21-20 lead. Champlin Park again responded, getting to set point by scoring four consecutive points, but a service error gave the ball back to Coon Rapids.
Paige Jones set Olivia Jung for two kills, Jung returned the favor once, and Jones and and Lindsey Bratland combined for a block as the Cardinals scored the last five points of the set to pull out the win and set the tone for the rest of the night.
The second set was the only set of the night that didn't hold to the script of a tight battle. The teams traded the lead twice early but a 10-1 run by the Rebels sent them on their way to the 11-point victory to tie the match at 1-1.
Much of the third set appeared to be going the way of the home team. After falling behind early, they grabbed a 4-3 lead and, after snapping a 10-10 tie, they pulled out to a 23-17 lead.
Once again, the Rebels came back, pulling to within one point with a 5-0 run, but a service error gave Coon Rapids a chance to win the set. Back-to-back kills by Lexi Wood tied the match at 24-24. The teams were tied again, at 25-25, before one of Taylor Goar's 26 kills on the night final put the set away for the Rebels.
The fourth set proved to be one of the the Cardinals' best of the season as they hit a stunning .522. Champlin Park also had its best hitting performance of the night, at .286, but, despite 10 tie scores and five lead changes, couldn't keep pace with the home squad.
"That was as well as we've played all year," Coon Rapids head coach Heidi Ulwelling said. "Both our hitting and our defense came together in that set."
Eight of the Cardinals nine plays who saw action in the set recorded kills, they committed just one reception error and the back row grouping of Aneisha DeNio, Emily Tronson and Kayle Witzman combined for 10 digs.
The fifth set proved to be the most hotly contested set of the night. The set saw more lead changes (6), and as many ties (10) as any other set of the night despite being played to just 17 points.
The Cardinals would serve for the match at 14-13 but Wood stepped up for the visitors, notching her 15th kill of the night, to tie the score. Goar's 26th kill of the night gave the Rebels their first match point of the night but Jung collected her 14th kill to tie the score one more time.
A service error gave Champlin Park a second chance to serve for the match and Christa Koep converted the opportunity with an ace.
Despite being disappointed with the loss, Ulwelling found plenty of positive things from her team.
"We battled back when we were down," she said. "I had nothing but positives for the team afterwards. We did so many things well tonight, against a good team, and that was my message."
Ulwelling stated that she was happy with the play of senior setter and co-captain Paige Jones. "She really distributed the ball well tonight," she said.
All four of the Cardinals' front-row maintstays, Bratland, Jung, Pasiowitz and Ashley Engen, had at least 22 attack attempts. Engen finished with 16 kills while Jung had 14 and Pasiowitz 11 while Jones finished with 40 assists.
Defensively, Coon Rapids matched its season high with nine blocks, getting four each from Angela Koch, who played just two sets, and Bratland. Tronson, who sat out the third set before moving into the libero role for the final two sets, finished with a team-high 16 digs while Engen had 15.
Up next for the Cardinals is Anoka, Thursday at the Roger E. Carlson Fieldhouse. The opening serve is slated for 7 p.m. and, as the team's final home match of the season, is slated to be Senior Night.
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