Cardinals take breath out of Dragons, 3-1

A highly attended competitive match between the Luverne Cardinals and Adrian Dragons did not disappoint as both teams went to battle Friday night. 
The Cardinals got down to business right away, putting the first two points on the board.  
The Dragons soon caught up, but their momentum was cut short when Anja Jarchow passed to Reghan Bork who set it back to her for the kill, giving Luverne the serve. 
Luverne entered a 10-point lead when Macy Stratton executed a dig to Bork who set it to Elise Ferrell for the point. 
Adrian tried to come back, but after an extended volley between the two teams, Van Batavia passed to Bork for a set to Ferrell to get the point. 
Ferrell helped seal the deal with an ace serve and a back-row attack followed by a Stratton dig to Bork to Van Batavia for a kill. Luverne won the first game on an Adrian net serve with a score of 25-16.
Adrian scored first in Game 2 after some Luverne errors, but the Cardinals offense when to work when an Adrian error gave Luverne the serve.
 At one point, Luverne was ahead by eight points after a Christina Wagner dig to Trista Baustian who set to Morgan Ahrendt for the kill.
Adrian came back on a series of kills, blocking Luverne, and getting through some tough Luverne blocks to come within a point of the Cardinals, prompting a Luverne time-out with the score at 23-22. 
The game resumed with an Adrian error that gave the Cardinals control of the serve. A great volley and an outstanding save by Adrian put the score at 24 to 23. 
Luverne got the winning point when Van Batavia executed a dig to Bork who set to Ferrell for the kill. The final Game 2 score was 25-23.
The first six points of Game 3 were a series of alternating points on the scoreboard. 
The Dragons powered through some Luverne blocks after a long volley to pull ahead by four points.
Down by five after a Luverne time-out, the Cardinals got to work with Ferrell and Wagner delivering attacks to narrow the Dragons’ lead to two points.
 Adrian responded with a couple of kills and ball placements into the holes on the Cardinal side along with some Luverne errors. Adrian won Game 3 with a score of 25-19.
Luverne was in the lead most of Game 4, but it became a nail biter at the end. 
The Cardinals let an 8-point lead slip away with a series of Adrian kills and blocks that tied the game at 22.
When play resumed after a Luverne time-out, Stratton executed a dig to Baustian who set to Ahrendt who put it over the net, and Adrian touched the ball before it went out of bounds.
Soon thereafter, Van Batavia passed to Baustian for a set to Ferrell for a kill to put the score at 24-22.
 Adrian called a time-out to regroup, and the Dragons returned to play by delivering a hit. Luverne responded with a hit out of bounds, and the score was tied at 24. 
With Luverne on the defense, Ahrendt put up a block that prompted a “carrying” call on Adrian to give the serve back to Luverne. A steady serve by Bork was returned by Adrian, but Ahrendt and Baustian teamed up on the block to stop the Dragons and Luverne won Game 4 with a score of 26-24.
The Cardinals’ overall record is 16-6, with their last regular season match on Thursday in Hills-Beaver Creek.
 
Stat highlights:
Serves:  Macy Stratton 17/17, Reghan Bork 18/19
Set assists:  Reghan Bork 30, Trista Baustian 20
Blocks:  Morgan Ahrendt 5 assists; Christina Wagner 1 solo & 4 assists
Attacks:  Elise Ferrell 22, Kamryn Van Batavia 19