Volleyball: Redbird spikers claim runner-up honors at Eden Prairie

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It was a battle of state-ranked teams vying for the title as host Eden Prairie, ranked No. 9 in Class AAA, defeated No. 10 ranked Alexandria 25-22, 25-23 Saturday.

The Cardinals battled hard for the title, taking each game down to the wire as Sam Dale and Alicia Montbriand led the team with six and five kills respectively.

Katie Brown added 14 assists and Dale contributed 12 digs in the hard-fought battle.

It was also Dale that led the charge in game one as the Cardinals trailed 20-13, but rallied back with an eight point run on her serve. It was Eden Prairie, however, that took advantage with the game tied at 22 to run off the next three points for the win.

In game two, Alexandria had an early three-point lead off Eden Prairie errors, but the Eagles came back to lead 18-17 before the Cardinals regained that lead on a fake set by Katie Brown.

A four-point run by the Eagles put them back up, but again Alexandria battled into position, closing the score to 23-22 on a Dale kill, and again Eden Prairie came back, taking a 24-22 lead on a side out kill by Katie Froehle. Each team was able to trade side outs and the Eagles finished the match 25-23 on a Froehle kill.

To reach the finals, Alexandria defeated Bloomington Jefferson 25-9, 25-15, then topped Minneapolis Southwest 25-9, 25-18 and Waconia 25-16, 25-22.

GAME SCORECARDS

ALEXANDRIA 25-25,

BLOOMINGTON JEFFERSON 9-15

ALEXANDRIA STATISTICS (Kills/blocks/aces) – Sam Dale 5/0/2, 13 digs; Ari Carlson 4/1/0; Angela Christianson 4/1/0; Jacque Brown 2/1/0; Alicia Montbrian 6/0/0; Sam Trumm 5/1/0; Katie Brown 2/0/3, 8 assists; Keely Gross 0/0/0, 8 assists; Val Smith 15 digs; Greta Wood 0/0/1.

ALEXANDRIA 25-25,

MINNEAPOLIS SOUTHWEST 9-18

ALEXANDRIA STATISTICS – Sam Dale 4/2/0, 8 digs; Ari Carlson 5/1/0; Jacque Brown 2/1/0; Alicia Montbriand 3/0/0; Sam Trumm 1/2/0; Katie Brown 1/0/4, 11 assists; Val Smith 10 digs.

ALEXANDRIA 25-25, WACONIA 16-22

ALEXANDRIA STATISTICS – Sam Dale 2/3/1; Ari Carlson 7/3/0; Angela Christianson 1/1/0; Jacque Brown 1/0/0; Alicia Montbriand 3/1/0; Sam Trumm 4/3/0; Katie Brown 12 assists; Keely Gross 0/0/2, 5 assists; Val Smith 15 digs; Greta Wood 5 digs.

EDEN PRAIRIE 25-25, ALEXANDRIA 22-23

ALEXANDRIA STATISTICS – Sam Dale 6/1/3, 12 digs; Ari Carlson 3/1/0; Angela Christianson 1/1/0; Jacque Brown 2/1/0; Alicia Montbriand 5/0/0; Sam Trumm 4/0/0; Katie Brown 3/0/1, 14 assists; Keely Gross 8 assists; Val Smith 10 digs; Greta Wood 8 digs.

Tags: sports, alexandria, cardinals, volleyball, eden, prairie