Abbigayle Bohlen served a lot Monday, Nov. 9.
The senior setter for the Brainerd Warriors had 14 consecutive serves when they jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the second set against the St. Cloud Apollo Eagles.
“I served a lot in a row,” Bohlen said. “It was a lot of fun to keep going and going. I don’t remember the last time I could serve that many in a row. Every time the ball came back over we played with a fast pace and I would go back and serve again.”
Brainerd won the second set 25-10 after winning the first 25-12. The Warriors completed the sweep in the third set 25-12 to defeat the undermanned Eagles in a Central Lakes Conference match.
“They had some kids out sick with COVID,” Warriors head coach Rick Kuehlwein said. “We were expecting a much better match. Our kids played pretty well after the first set. They minimized the errors and that’s all we really wanted to do.”
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With Bohlen serving in the first set, Brainerd went on a 8-0 run to take a 21-10 lead. The Warriors went on to win the first set after an Eagles service error.
In the second set, Karlie Anderson started it with a hammering kill to launch Brainerd into its 14-0 run.
A Bohlen ace made it 10-0. Another Anderson kill made it 12-0. A Madison Genz kill gave the Warriors a 14-0 lead until the Eagles finally got on the board in the second set.
“That’s a luxury,” Kuehlwein said. “You do not see that very often. It’s very rare to see much more than four in a row.”
The Warriors largest lead in the second set was 18-3. Anderson smashed another kill to finish off the second set 25-10 for Brainerd.
Anderson finished with nine kills, while Genz led the team with 11 kills.
“We had a lot of big shoes we had to fill this year,” Bohlen said of the hitters. “They are doing a great job.”
Bohlen served to start the third set and again the Warriors jumped out to a big lead. After an Anderson kill Brainerd led 8-0 before the Eagles responded.
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Kate Stadum smashed one of her eight kills to make it 13-4 Warriors. With Grace Peabody serving, Brainerd went on a 7-0 run to give them a 20-5 advantage in the third set.
Peabody tallied 16 set assists along with Bohlen’s team-leading 24 set assists.
“Both of our setters do a good job,” Kuehlwein said. “Karlie feeds better off of Grace than she does off of Abbi, but she does well off both of them. I think Abbi’s main thing right now is going to Hala Davis.”
The Warriors finished off Apollo 25-12 in the third set after a Genz kill. The win marked Brainerd’s fifth straight victory. They have yet to lose in the month of November.
“After Moorhead we were flying high,” Kuehlwein said. “We haven’t unseated them in a lot of years, so I was hoping for no letdown and we didn’t get one.”
The Warriors defeated Moorhead 3-1 Thursday, Nov. 5.
Bohlen said she feels the Warriors are playing much better than they did at the start of the season.
“I think the beginning of the season was very off because of all the COVID stuff and it was very hit or miss if we were going to have practice or not,” Bohlen said. “We are going to keep playing well and practicing a lot to keep the season going.”
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Brainerd travels to Alexandria Tuesday, Nov. 10, in what will be the Warriors third game in four days. It will also be Brainerd’s third straight without a practice.
“I think we got some momentum going into tomorrow,” Kuehlwein said. “I would like one practice before we went to Alexandria to work on a few things, but we are playing well right now and hopefully we continue that tomorrow.”
Apollo 12 10 12
Brainerd 25 25 25
Brainerd statistics (kills, set assists, blocks, digs, ace serves)
Kate Stadum 8 kills, 8 digs
Hillary Hoelz 1 kill, 1 dig
Grace Peabody 1 ace serve, 16 set assists
Madison Genz 11 kills, 7 digs
Abbigayle Bohlen 4 ace serves, 6 digs, 24 set assists
Olivia Stirewalt 1 kill, 2 digs
Hala Davis 6 kills, 1 block
Kiarra Story 2 ace serves
Rachel Trusty 1 kill, 1 dig
Meghan Smith 1 ace serve, 1 kill, 6 digs
Iyana Pickar 2 kills
Karlie Anderson 9 kills, 6 digs, 1 block
Warriors 3, St, Cloud Apollo 0
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Key: Large runs by the Warriors help Brainerd make quick work of Apollo.
Conference: Brd 5-2, SCA 2-5.
Overall: Brd 7-2, SCA 2-4.
Next: Brainerd at Alexandria 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10.
CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.
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