ALEXANDRIA -- Willmar fought back to force a fifth and deciding game against the defending Central Lakes Conference champions, but Alexandria prevailed in the end to collect a 25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 20-25, 15-12 win over the visiting Cardinals Tuesday.
Alexandria won the Central Lakes Conference title last year after going 12-0 and it looked like Willmar would take an early lead in the conference race this year. But Alexandria stormed back in the fifth game to hand Willmar (1-1, 2-1) its first loss of the season.
"It was a really good match. A heartbreaker," said first-year Willmar coach Terrin DeBoer. "We played amazing defense with Hannah Smith and Karlee Johnson getting 33 and 22 assists (respectively), but we struggled putting the ball away."
Willmar got plenty of attacks (135-for-162) in play, but it had only 44 kills (.105 kill percentage) among eight players. Smith paced the group with 14 kills with Jena Thompson and Alex Lippert adding seven kills apiece.
Willmar hosts Rocori on Thursday before participating in the Marshall Invite on Friday and Saturday.
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Alexandria 3, Willmar 2
Willmar 18 23 25 25 12
Alexandria 25 25 17 20 15
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
Willmar
Serving: Jennie Mattison 13-15-2, Hannah Smith 20-21-2, Laura Swartz 16-17-0, Addy Nelsen 17-18-1, Shae Bruess 15-15-2, Jena Thompson 8-9-2, Karlee Johnson 2-3-0 ... Setting: Mattison 73-75-22, Nelsen 58-58-13, Alex Lippert 6-6-1, Sara Banks 4-4-1 ... Hitting: Smith 43-53-14, Lindsey Atchison 21-26-6, Thompson 21-24-7, Swartz 6-11-3, Lippert 25-28-7, Banks 9-10-4, Mattison 3-3-1, Nelsen 7-7-2 ... Blocking (aces): Thompson 4, Swartz 2, Smith 2, Atchison 4 ... Digs: Swartz 6, Smith 33, Johnson 22, Bruess 12, Mattison 16, Nelsen 6, Atchison 3, Banks 2
Alexandria
Serving: not available... Setting (assists): Katie Brown 19, Keely Gross 17 ... Hitting (kills): Sam Trumm 14, Alyssa Haugen 11, Jacque Brown 9 ... Blocking (aces): not available ... Digs: Trumm 13, Chelsea Schroeder 9, Angela Christianson 10
