WILLMAR -- Emily Minnick hammered down 14 kills and made four ace blocks to help Willmar win for the fifth time in its last six matches as the Cardinals swept St. Cloud Apollo 25-20, 25-16, 28-26 in Central Lakes Conference volleyball action Tuesday.
Minnick misfired on just three attacks in 21 attempts to finish with a robust .524 kill percentage .524. The sophomore also had three ace serves.
"Emily had a fantastic match," said Willmar coach Terrin DeBoer. "She hit right over their blockers."
Laura Swartz followed Minnick with nine kills and Addy Nelsen added seven more as the Cardinals improved to 5-10 overall after opening the season losing nine straight.
DeBoer added that playing consistently through a whole match provided a spark for the team.
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"It started with the Sauk Rapids match. Even though we lost, it was a turning point," said DeBoer. "Since then we have just clicked. We quit making mistakes and that makes things easier."
Nelsen and Hailey Vreeman guided the offensive attack for Willmar by piling up a combined 35 set assists. Katie Lippert had five kills and four ace blocks.
Nelsen and Shae Bruess had 13 digs apiece and Casey Marcus supplied two ace serves.
The Cardinals are at Brainerd on Thursday for another CLC match.
Willmar 3, SC Apollo 0
SC Apollo (2-6, 5-12) 20 16 26
Willmar (2-6, 5-10) 25 25 28
(Key: good-attempts-aces)
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St. Cloud Apollo
Statistics not available
Willmar
Serving: Hailey Vreeman 11-11-1, Lindsey Atchison 15-17-1, Shae Bruess 8-8-0, Addy Nelsen 9-9-0, Casey Marcus 9-9-2, Emily Minnick 11-13-3 ... Setting: Nelsen 44-44-17, Vreeman 41-41-18 ... Hitting: Katie Lippert 15-19-5, Minnick 18-21-14, Laura Swartz 26-30-9, Nelsen 9-11-7, Taylor Flegel 9-9-1, Sara Kooistra 9-13-4 ... Blocking (aces): Nelsen 2, Swartz 1, Lippert 4, Minnick 4, Flegel 1 ... Digs: Bruess 13, Atchison 7, Nelsen 13, Swartz 4, Marcus 5, Vreeman 6, Lippert 3, Kooistra 2
