Raider netters win ugly
Even on an off night, good teams find a way to win.
The Central Lakes College Raiders volleyball team did just that as they overcame a mistake filled match to get by the Northland Pioneers 28-30, 30-22, 30-26, 30-23 Wednesday night.
"We can be really good," said Peterson, "but I'm disappointed in the way we played. That's not positive but it's the truth. This game was not a reflection on how we have played or how we can play.
"There were just a lot of mistakes for no apparent reason. You just don't see that many unforced errors from people who have played that much volleyball."
The win kept the Raiders unbeaten and atop the North Division at 3-0. But against the Pioneers, CLC looked nothing like division leaders. Balls dropped between players. Serves sailed out of bounds. Passes missed the mark not allowing the Raider's high powered offense get into a rhythm.
The Raiders gave Northland 30 points off serving and passing errors.
"We gave up a whole games worth of points on serving and receiving errors," Peterson said. "Thirty points in four games is a lot to give up. I know passing is our weakness. We've worked so hard on receiving the serve, it just didn't look that way against Northland."
CLC held a 28-25 lead late in the first game only to watch the Pioneers rattle off five straight points that included two Raiders hitting errors to steal the game.
But the Raiders bounced back and took the next two games behind the serving of Kelly Holmgren and a more active offense.
In the fourth game, whatever momentum the Raiders had gained from their 2-1 lead, fizzled as the Pioneers raced out to a 17-10 lead.
That's when Lane Tencate made her presence felt. Behind the freshman's pinpoint serving and two perfectly placed Shannon McCarthy tips, the Raiders went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 18-17.
Then leading 25-23, Tencate's serving sparked a 5-0 run. McCarthy gave CLC the win with another tip.
When the Raiders' offense was working, Tencate and McCarthy were the catalysts. McCarthy finished with 11 kills and Tencate added 13.
"Both Shannon and Lane can see the block really good," Peterson said. "They both make very few hitting errors. Those are the kind of people that should be getting more balls. We can't get the balls to them enough because our passing isn't good enough yet. We're trying to make them move fast and they're doing a good job of picking up the college game."
While the offense misfired frequently, the Raiders defense, especially the block, excelled.
Time and again CLC blockers like turned Pioneer attacks away. McCarthy finished with 9 blocks and Tencate had five blocks to lead CLC. The Raiders finished with 22 blocks.
"Our blocking is good," Peterson said. "And this wasn't even our best blocking game. We have a consistently good block. We don't have a weakness there. We have six people all the time that can block. A block can frustrate the other teams' hitters and give you the momentum."
Raiders statistics
Abby Leach 2 ace serves, 5 digs, 19 set assists
Jodi Solinger 7 digs
Shannon McCarthy 11 kills, 2 ace serves, 5 digs, 9 blocks
Lane Tencate 13 kills, 4 ace serves, 9 digs, 5 blocks
Aubrie Anderson 6 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks
Dana Tencate 2 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks
Kristin Olson 10 kills, 3 ace serves, 5 digs, 2 blocks
Kelly Holmgren 4 ace serves, 2 digs, 1 block, 19 set assists
Jenny Skiba 10 kills, 4 ace serves, 12 digs, 1 blocks
North Division -- CLC 3-0, NL 1-3. Overall -- CLC 6-1, NL 4-7. Next match -- CLC at Bethany Lutheran tournament Saturday.