East Ridge volleyball: Raptors fall twice last week

The East Ridge volleyball team suffered a pair of non-conference losses last week, 3-2 at Champlin Park on Monday, Aug. 29, and 3-1 to St. Michael-Albertville on Thursday, Sept. 1, at East Ridge High School.

In the loss to St. Michael-Albertville, the Knights (2-1), won the first match 25-22. East Ridge fought back for a 25-21 win in the second set, but STMA won the last two sets 25-23, 25-23 to steal the win. East Ridge senior Cayla Kissner led the way for the Raptors in the loss, with 32 digs, 12 kills, one block and two service aces. Also, junior Margaret Eggert was 19-for-19 serving, with 13 digs, 22 kills, one solo block and two assist blocks. Additionally, junior Tess Kelzenberg was 15-for-16 serving with four aces, 13 digs, 37 set assists and one kill, senior Maggie Remke, had six digs, six kills and one ace and senior Brandi Knupp was 14-for-14 serving with 25 digs.

“We continue to improve each match,” East Ridge head coach Lindsay Ashburn said. “We struggled to finish, but played good, close games tonight.”

Prior to playing STMA, East Ridge (1-2) suffered a tough, five-set loss to Champlin Park on the road — 22-25, 19-25, 25-15, 25-23 and 13-15.

“We played well at times, but lacked consistency,” Ashburn said. “Too many unforced errors.”

In the loss to the Rebels (1-0), Remke led the way going 16-for-17 serving with eight kills, six assist blocks, two solo blocks, one ace and five digs. Also, Kissner had 21 digs, one kill, one set assist, and was 14-for-16 serving with four ace serves. Additionally, Knupp was 23-for-24 serving with an ace and had 15 digs, three kills and an assist block, while Kelzenberg had 23 set assists, two kills, tow assist blocks, one dig and Eggert had 14 kills, three digs and two assist blocks.

East Ridge took on Eastview on Tuesday, Sept. 6, after the Bulletin went to press. Next, the Raptors head to Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall for the elite Southwest Minnesota Challenge on Friday, Sept. 9.

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