The Faribault Falcons dropped the first set then reeled off three straight wins for a victory in Owatonna Tuesday night.  The Falcons looked sluggish in the first set with everybody back in their lineup and lost 25-17.  The Huskies had 7 ace serves in that initial set and Faribault could not generate any offense.  Faribault then put together wins of 25-22, 25-13, 25-19 for their 7th win of the season and 3rd Big Nine win.  Owatonna fell to 5-20 overall and 1-8 in the conference.

I told former Falcon and Head Coach for Owatonna Whitney (Gillen) Ordal following the match there is a bright future with no seniors on the team.  Junior Alyvia Johnson was virtually unstoppable the first set with 5 of her team's 10 kills.  Johnson had 8 over the next three sets by my unofficial tally.  Faribault put up a much stronger block in the second set and that more than likely contributed to limiting the Huskies offense.

Faribault was led by sophomore Payton Evenstad with 18 kills on the night.  Evenstad had been out of the lineup for awhile and it was good to see her back.  The setter struggled in the first set with just one kill but definitely got her timing back in the second set with six kills in that set.  She added 6 in the third set and 5 in the fourth.

In the second set sophomore Payton Ross served three straight aces to get a lilttle seperation from the Huskies after they rallied to tie at 19.  Faribault had strong serving with 7 aces in the set

During a stretch in Faribault's run away third set they looked excellent with a more rapid fire offense, mixing in some soft attacks with the smokers. My unofficial statistics had the Falcons with 11 kills and only three hitting errors in the set.  They picked up three more ace serves and finished the night with 13 aces and 7 service errors.

Owatonna had 13 ace serves and 7 service errors also.  I had them with 33 total kills and 20 hitting errors and Faribault with 41 kills and 24 hitting errors.

Freshman Meghan Swanson collected 4 blocks on the night and was joined by Evenstad, Ross and McKayla Armbruster as Faribault State Farm Agents Faribault players of the match courtesy of Faribault State Farm Agents Jason Krohn and Tony Langerud. Armbruster was perfect on serves and had six kills.  Ross had 4 ace serves.

The Falcons play Thursday against Mankato West and travel to Northfield for their regular season final match on October 16th.  That match will be on the radio.

Other scores from around the area Tuesday:

  • Northfield remains unbeaten in the Big Nine after a 25-13, 25-14, 25-12 dominance of Mankato West.  The Scarlets were a game in back of the Raiders going into the night.
  • Rochester Century over Rochester Mayo 25-15, 25-16, 25-23
  • Rochester John Marshall swept Albert Lea 25-12, 25-15, 25-13 to remain a game in back of Northfield in the Big Nine title chase.
  • Waterville-Elysian-Morristown breezed by Waseca 25-9, 25-13, 25-21
  • Belle Plaine over Chaska 25-17, 25-20, 25-19
  • Eagan defeated Farmington 25-11, 25-11, 25-6
  • Fillmore Central downed Chatfield 25-14, 25-10, 25-15
  • Grand Meadow swept Schaeffer Academy 25-16, 25-13, 25-13
  • Hayfield bested Rochester Lourdes 26-24, 25-22, 25-19
  • Lakeville South cruised by Eastview 25-13, 25-15, 25-21
  • Mayer Lutheran over Maple Lake 25-22, 25-15, 25-22
Faribault Huddles During 4th Set in Owatonna. Photo by Gordy Kosfeld
Faribault Huddles During 4th Set in Owatonna. Photo by Gordy Kosfeld
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