Palo powers Raiders to win

GRAND RAPIDS -- After a slow start, the Central Lakes College Raiders volleyball team cranked up its offensive machine as it churned out a 25-30, 30-17, 30-24, 30-20 win over the Itasca Community College Vikings Monday night.

"We had another one of our traditional slow starts," Raiders coach Jane Peterson said. "It was just a classic case of not being ready. We played excellent defense. We've been practicing defense all week and it's nice to watch them do it in a game."

Freshman outside hitter Lexie Palo pounded out 15 kills on the night to lead the Raiders offensive attack. Sophomore middle hitter Val Diedrich wasn't far behind, adding 12 kills.

Freshman setter Abby Leach was once again instrumental in the Raiders offense as she handed out 40 set assists.

CLC will face Northland, who is third in the North Division and one game ahead of the Raiders Wednesday night in the season finale.

"You want to end the season with some momentum," Peterson said, "especially the game before the state tournament. Northland has one of the best hitters in the state but if we play defense like we did against Itasca, we can stop her."

Raiders statistics

Abby Leach 2 ace serves, 1 kill, 11 digs, 40 set assists

Lexie Palo 1 ace serve, 15 kills, 6 digs, 6 blocks

Toni Elyea 9 digs

Tracy Bell 1 ace serve, 6 digs

Kandi Ketz 13 digs

Jessica Melheim 8 kills, 5 blocks

Amber Schwieters 1 ace serve, 10 digs

Kristin Olson 4 kills, 1 block

Val Diedrich 1 ace serve, 12 kills, 9 digs, 4 blocks

Jenny Skiba 3 ace serves, 5 kills, 4 digs

Conference -- CLC 7-6. Overall -- CLC 11-11. Next match -- CLC host Northland 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.