WILLMAR -- The home court usually plays to the host's advantage in volleyball, but for Willmar until last night, Tuesday of Homecoming Week, it had been a bad omen.
The Cardinals had lost all three home matches this season, each going the five-game maximum.
But against Sartell, the Cardinals lifted the curse with a narrow 25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 30-28 win to even their Central Lakes Conference record at 3-3.
"We finally got the home victory," said relieved Willmar head coach Mary Hanson. "But we almost ended up going five."
Willmar closed out the fourth game on an ace serve by Megan Brown, two ace hits by Hannah Smith and an ace attack by Greta King.
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Besidess from going 0-and-3 at home in tiebreakers this season, the Cardinals would have been in even worse shape against the Sabres.
"Greta gutted out the last game from 20 or 22 points on," said Hanson, explaining that her senior leader is dealing with a number of nagging joint injuries. "She wouldn't have played another game tonight."
Bevin Williams, a jayvee regular who came off the bench to push up the tempo in Games 3 and 4, wouldn't have been available for a Game 5 because of the cap.
King finished with 18 kills and 19 set assists. Annalise Bratt and Smith each supplied eight kills and Smith three ace blocks. Smith also had some big plays on defense, Hanson added.
Jena Thompson with four kilos and Kelsey Evans with five were solid along the front line.
"This time we stayed focused," said Hanson. "And we stayed aggressive instead of tipping when wre get nervous. We swung away."
Sartell goes to 3-2 in the CLC and 6-4 overall. Wilmar is 5-6 overall.
Willmar 3, Sartell 1
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Sartell 19 25 22 28
Willmar 25 19 25 30
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Sartell
Statistics not available
Willmar
Serving: Annalise Bratt 12-15-1, Megan Brown 14-15-1, Hannah Smith 26-28-3, Greta King 14-15-3, Emily Nelsen 3-6-1, Laurie Buer 19-19-0, Bevin Williams 2-2-0 ... Setting: Bratt 5-5-1, Smith 27-27-5, King 67-69-19, Buer 33-33-14 ... Hitting: Bratt 22-23-8, Smith 22-24-8, Kelsey Evans 15-19-5, King 31-34-18, Nelsen 20-25-7, Williams 10-11-1, Jena Thompson 15-18-4 ... Blocking (aces): Smith 3, King 2, Nelsen 1, Williams 1, Thompson 4 ... Digs: Bratt 16, Brown 21, Smith 14, Evans 1, King 14, Nelsen 5, Buer 9, Williams 1, Thompson 1
