Bearcats defeat Freeze, Greenwave at home
By Coach Tina Turn
KCC vs. NF
The first day of school was Tuesday, Sept. 3 and the Bearcats hosted their first home game of the season in Lancaster when they took on the Northern Freeze. It was a quick night in a hot gym as the Bearcats took care of business and swept the Freeze in straight sets with scores 25-9, 25-13 and 25-7.
In the opening set, the Bearcats swung 14 times on offense and connected for a kill nine times with only 1 hitting error. Kaydence White led the way with 3 kills out of 3 attempts. Afton Lindgren and White teamed up for a block to make their presence known at the net. Meanwhile at the service line, White and Lindgren also went on lengthy serving runs with White logging three aces and Lindgren one. The set ended on a Turn ace.
Strege led the offense in set two with 6 of 9 kills. Morgan Turn added 3, while White, and Hanna Warnke each chipped in 2 kills. Lauryn Whitlock added her lone kill of the night in this set. Whitlock and White blocked the Freeze once, and the team combined for 5 aces. This set was characterized by silly errors. The Freeze had 13 points in the set, 9 of which were handed to them on Bearcat errors.
The third set was the cleanest of the night for KCC, with only 4 errors and 15 earned points, 5 of which came on ace serves. White, once again, showed her dominant offensive moves with four kills, while Turn added 2. The Bearcats didn’t miss a serve in the final set.
The girls did lots of good things tonight. They sustained their energy, which is something the team has been focusing on. At the serving line, they played cat and mouse and racked up a total of 15 aces with 92% serves going in. There was a little lack of discipline in our transition game, so we’ll be looking to correct that before we take on some tough teams later this week. Overall, it was a good home opener, and we are glad to start the season with a 2-0 record.
KCC vs. EGF
The Hallock home opener for the Bearcats was Thursday, Sept. 5 when the East Grand Forks Greenwave came to town. The AA team has been a rival of the Bearcats for the past few years, and the two teams have had some epic battles. The first two sets of this match proved to be very competitive.
Set one started close, but then EGF went on a run. A timeout when down 7-12 helped the Bearcats regain focus and they re-entered the floor with a renewed focus. They charged from behind to nab a 25-23 victory. Kaydence White was huge at the net with 8 kills. Morgan Turn followed with 3 kills, while Berlyn Strege, Lauryn Whitlock and Hanna Warnke each added a duo.
In the second set, the Bearcats lost a healthy lead and had to fight to hold on for the extra-points win, 26-24. The only 2 aces of the match for the Bearcats were in this set by Warnke and Whitlock. Offensively, it was White again with 6 kills. Whitlock added a trio, Turn added 2, and Strege and Warnke each had a single. Strege made some important digs to energize our defense and frustrate the Greenwave offense.
The come-from-behind win in set two proved to be a momentum killer for the Greenwave as they made several errors in set three. Turn went on a 10-run serving spree that kept EGF out of system. White and Whitlock lit up the net with 3 blocks while Afton Lindgren recorded a block as well. The 100% serving effort in set three was just another nail in the coffin for the Greenwave as the Bearcats surged ahead to a 25-9 victory.
Overall serving for the night was 91%. We had a nice, loud home crowd to support the girls in this excellent win over a AA team. In the first set, blocking was our weakness. After some communication from our defenders, the girls adjusted and did a much better job with the first line of defense. Passing tonight was truly phenomenal; their 2.45 passing rate far exceeded our team goal of 2.25 and was really the key to our win.
The girls can be so proud of their improved focus on serve receive. It is truly allowing our offense to do what we know it can do. This is the level we need to pass at consistently to achieve our season goals.
This win moves our season record to 3-0. Next up is a tournament at Ada on Saturday where we will play Fosston, DGF and RLF in pool play.
To see the stats, click on the link below:
Hanna Warnke, #16, and Morgan Turn, #5, go up for a block during the KCC Bearcats’ three-set win over the Northern Freeze in Lancaster on Tuesday, Sept. 3. The Bearcat girls defeated the Freeze with scores of 25-9, 25-13 and 25-7. (Enterprise Photo by Miranda Peterson)
Bearcat Junior hitter, Kaydence White jumps to get one of her 10 kills in the KCC Bearcats home game versus the Northern Freeze. White also served 14/16 with 4 aces and had 1 block and 1 dig to help win the three-set match against the Freeze. (Enterprise Photo by Miranda Peterson)
