Engen leads Cardinals to first conference win

Ashley Engen accounted for over one-third of all Coon Rapids points and her all-around play led the Cardinals to a 25-22, 25-23, 25-19 win at Robbinsdale Armstrong, the team's first Northwest Suburban Conference victory of the season.

In the opening set, the Falcons jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Engen recorded a kill to give her team the serve, and she then proceed to serve five aces in the next six points as Coon Rapids quickly took a 7-2 lead.

When the rotation returned Engen to the service line, the lead had been cut to 14-12, but she recorded two more aces as the Cardinals extended the lead to 17-12 and, after Armstrong came back to tie the score at 22-22, she combined on a block with Angela Koch and then served up two more aces, giving her nine for the set, to give Coon Rapids a three-point victory.

Engen again started the Cardinals off with five aces in the second set as the visitors took a 6-0 lead. The Falcons came back to tie the score at 9-9 but could never gain the lead.

The hosts would not go away, however, and were within one point late in the set when Courtney Pasiowitz notched one of her six kills on the night to give Coon Rapids set point at 24-22. Armstrong cut the lead to one once again but Olivia Jung struck a cross-court attack resulting in a kill and the final point to give the Cardinals a 2-0 match lead.

Armstrong scored the first point of the third set but a four-point run gave Coon Rapids the lead once again. The Falcons eventually tied the score at 6-6 with a four-point run of their own but an 8-2 run by the Cardinals gave them a lead they would never relinquish and Engen's 10th kill of the night finally ended the match.

Engen's double-double of 10 kills and 16 aces led Coon Rapids. She also had eight digs, a block assist, two set assists and received 18 serves without an error. Paige Jones, with 27 assists, averaged nine assists per game for the first time this season while Pasiowith had six kills and Angela Koch had five while hitting .444 on the night.

The Cardinals are idle until Saturday when they take part in the BSM Invitational at Benilde-St. Margaret's. Coon Rapids opens pool play at 9 a.m. by taking on Minnehaha Academy. The Cardinals second game is scheduled for 12 p.m. against Holy Angels to conclude pool play. Medal round play is slated to get underway at 2 p.m.