WILLMAR -- Fergus Falls stormed back after losing the first two games to stun Willmar 17-25, 22-25, 25-12, 25-22, 15-9 in the Central Lakes Conference Thursday night.
Willmar (1-2, 2-2) had a 20-12 lead in the fourth game, but the Cardinals committed six erors down the stretch, allowing the Otters (2-0, 2-0) to even the match.
The Otters then grabbed an early lead in the fifth game and never looked back, handing Willmar a tough home loss.
"We lost our intensity and had a lack of communication," said Willmar coach Mary Hanson after blowing a 2-0 lead. "Fergus Falls came out and played better. We need to play more than two games."
The Otters focused more on Willmar senior Greta King later in the match after the senior had four of her match-high 11 kills in the first game.
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"(Willmar) played so well in the first two games so we had to make an adjustment on King," said Fergus Falls coach Renee Erickson, whose team had 11 ace serves and limited Willmar to just five ace blocks.
Emily Nelsen added six kills for the Cardinals, who are at former Section 2AAA rival Marshall today.
Fergus Falls 3, Willmar 2
Fergus Falls 17 22 25 25 15
Willmar 25 25 12 22 9
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Fergus Falls
Serving: Whitney Moore 22-24-2, Susan Wellendorf 18-18-1, Ashley Torgerson 10-12-2 ... Setting (assists): Sarah Erickson 22, Moore 18 ... Hitting (kills): Brittany Gagner 10, Erickson 8, Wellendorf 6, Shauna Stine 6, Moore 5, Nicole Carrison 5 ... Blocking (aces): Gagner 3 ... Digs: Torgerson 33
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Willmar
Serving: Annalise Bratt 10-12-2, Megan Brown 13-16-3, Hannah Smith 14-16-1, Greta King 14-15-3, Emily Nelsen 9-12-1, Laurie Buer 20-20-2 ... Setting: Bratt 2-3-0, Smith 1-1-0, Kelsey Evans 7-7-2, King 52-54-15, Buer 31-31-11 ... Hitting: Bratt 11-12-3, Brown 2-2-0, Smith 6-9-4, Evans 10-14-5, King 27-34-11, Nelsen 16-18-6, Buer 1-1-0, Bevin Williams 4-7-1, Jena Thompson 16-19-4 ... Blocking (aces): King 3, Bratt 1, Evans 1 ... Digs: Bratt 9, Brown 11, Smith 11, King 14, Nelsen 2, Buer 6, Williams 1, Thompson 1
