Thursday, October 7, 2010

Tornado hitters prove too much for Cardinals

Coon Rapids matched Anoka in many areas and all three sets were tightly contested but, in the end the 1-2 punch of Lesi Robinson and Mikayla Gallagher proved too much for the Cardinals to overcome as the Tornadoes claimed a 25-19, 25-19, 25-17 win.

The teams battled through the first half of the opening set to a 12-12 tie before an 8-1 run by Anoka put the visitors ahead, 20-13, and sent the Tornadoes on their way to a six-point victory.

The second set featured 12 tie scores and seven lead changes as the teams. Robinson recorded kills to account for four of Anoka's final 10 points of the set as the Tornadoes overcame a 17-16 deficit to finish out the second-set victory.

The third set played out much the same as the first two sets in the early going but Anoka would not give up the lead, finally breaking a 10-10 tie with an 8-1 run. Ashley Engen had seven of her match-high 15 digs in the set and the Cardinals were perfect in receiving 25 serve. The hitting game proved to be the difference as Anoka hit .303 while Coon Rapids had 10 kills and 10 errors.

"We didn't play bad," Cardinal head coach Heidi Ulwelling said. "We did a lot of things well tonight and just weren't able to finish at the end."

Defensively, Coon Rapids had one of its best nights of the season, averaging better than 14 digs per set while committing just four errors in 71 serve receptions to go with seven total blocks. Lindsey Bratland had a team season-high six blocks with a solo and five assists. Paige Jones had block assists as well. Emily Tronson chipped in with 12 digs.

Seven Cardinal seniors played their final match at the Carlson Fieldhouse. Co-captains Engen and Jones, were joined by fellow co-captain Megan Hayes as well as Tronson, Bratland, Angela Koch and Aneisha DeNio.

Coon Rapids returns to action Tuesday when the Cardinals will be at Robbinsdale Armstrong for a 7 p.m. match.

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