Card volleyball team soars past Sauk Rapids

WILLMAR -- The Willmar Cardinals unleashed a lethal attack on Thursday night with the Sauk Rapids Storm in the gym.

Junior middle hitter Emily Minnick was unstoppable, nailing 21 kills in 27 hits. Senior Katie Lippert, another 6-foot middle hitter, drilled 11 attacks for points in just 15 attempts.

The front-row explosiveness led to a sweep, 25-20, 25-18 and 25-19. The only other time the Storm (3-5, 6-10) has been swept this month was against Minnetonka.

"It was just total domination right from the start," said Willmar coach Terrin DeBoer. "It's a good way to end the week and go into our invitational."

Willmar's invite that has six other area teams starts at 8 a.m. on Saturday.

Willmar improved to 5-3 in the CLC, putting them in third place behind Fergus Falls and Brainerd.

Minnick and Lippert also combined for nine blocks.

Riley Grussing finished with 35 set assists and Casey Marcus led the defense with 10 digs.

Willmar 3, Sauk Rapids 0

Sauk Rapids (3-5, 6-10) 20 18 19

Willmar (5-3, 5-6) 25 25 25

(Key: good-attempts-aces)

Sauk Rapids

Not available

Willmar

Serving: Riley Grussing 9-10-1, Casey Marcus 12-12-0, Laura Swartz 9-10-0, Addy Nelsen 6-7-0, Lindsey Atchsion 14-14-0, Emily Minnick 5-7-0, Katie Bohlsen 7-8-2, Allie Sack 2-2-0 ... Setting: Grussing 67-69-35... Hitting: Minnick 23-27-21, Katie Lippert 13-15-11, Nelsen 7-9-3, Atchison 10-10-0, Hailey Vreeman 4-4-0, Swartz 5-7-0, Grussing 3-3-2, Anne Dunham 1-1-1 ... Blocking (aces): Minnick 4, Lippert 5, Atchison 2, Vreeman 3, Grussing 2, Dunham 1 ... Digs: Marcus 10, Atchison 5, Nelsen 5