Bearcats fall to Sacred Heart Eagles in opening home volleyball game

By Coach Tina Turn
KCC 1 – Sacred Heart 3
The 2025 KCC Bearcats volleyball team opened their season with a tough match against the Sacred Heart Eagles in Hallock on Tuesday, Aug. 26. The crowd was big; the gym was hot, and both teams were ready to fight.
Unfortunately for the Bearcats, the experience of the Eagles won out as KCC lost 1-3.
The first set was a balanced effort by both teams as they became acclimated with the speed of the game. Senior middle hitter Kaydence White came out of the gates firing on all cylinders as she recorded 8 kills. While the team serve percentage in set one was the highest of the night, the Bearcats weren’t serving as tough as they needed to against an Eagle team with a loaded offense and an excellent setter. KCC fell just short 21-25.
The Bearcats had an exceptionally rough start in set two, so a timeout was taken with a score of 2-11. To their credit, KCC crawled back out of the hole with some tough serving, led by junior setter Camryn Whitlock, and some big back row digs that fueled the momentum in favor of the Bearcats.
Unfortunately, it was too big of a hole to dig out of as the Eagles went on to win 25-17.
Serving was key to a third set win as servers metered their serves and played a little more cat and mouse. Junior outside hitter Brynn Hennen led the set with 2 aces. Senior setter Afton Lindgren and senior middle hitter Hanna Warnke took charge in set three, ramping up communication and making big saves that helped feed the offense. White scored with 6 kills in the set, followed by Warnke with 3. KCC gave themselves a shot at a match win by taking the set 25-21.
Set four was a tight battle until the Bearcats’ serve receive got stuck at point 16. Timeouts were taken when down 16-19 and 16-22. Despite another 6 kills from White, another 3 from Warnke, and 2 kills from junior outside hitter Halle Hansen, KCC couldn’t get the job done, and the night ended in favor of Sacred Heart 25-22.
Sacred Heart is a very experienced team, filled with a lot of outstanding athletes with height, speed, and power. Many of them have been playing on varsity since eighth grade. I knew it was going to be a battle, and our girls performed about how I expected them to for the first game of the season. We have three exceptional seniors back on the court, but that means newbies fill out the rest of the spots.
Rookies are going to need some time to find their way at the impressive new speed of varsity, and playing such superior competition right out of the gates makes this a baptism by fire for them.
Nevertheless, that’s what we strive for. Playing tough competition makes us better in the long run. We will hit the practice gym, knowing some areas we need to focus on improving, and our intent is to show our fans just how much we can grow and improve in the upcoming weeks.

Bearcat Senior hadley Nordin passes the ball during the Bearcats’ home game at Kittson Central Tuesday, Aug. 26. Nordin had 6 digs and served 3/3 for the Bearcats who were defeated by the Sacred Heart Eagles.
(Photo Courtesy of Sideline Lindsey – Lindsey Gullickson)

Brynn Hennen, a junior, goes up for a kill during the Bearcats’ match versus the Sacred Heart Eagles. Hennen had 4 kills, 15 digs, and served 12/14 including 2 aces.
(Photo Courtesy of Sideline Lindsey – Lindsey Gullickson)

HANNA WARNKE, KCC SENIOR, gets one of her 20 digs in the Bearcats’ home opener against Sacred Heart Eagles. the Bearcats were defeated in 4 sets by the Eagles, 21-25; 17-25, 25-21 and 22-25.
(Photo Courtesy of Sideline Lindsey – Lindsey Gullickson)