There were no weather warnings at Owatonna High School Tuesday night, but there were some thunderous spikes as 6-foot-3 junior Lauren Crowl repeatedly slammed the ball with authority as Eastview swept the Huskies in volleyball 25-10, 25-15, 25-16. It was the Huskies season opener and the Lightning's second match.

Crowl was not a surprise to OHS coach Whitney Ordal, "We knew No. 7 was going to be a killer. We tried to talk about it. But sometimes talking about it in practice, what we're scouting and what we need to do, doesn't always portray into the game. We knew they were going to set her...They're going to set her front row, back row, on the bench, wherever she is." She ended up with 12 kills and unveiled a dynamic toss-jump serve late in the match, earning an ace.

Ordal was happy her team kept battling after getting off to a real slow start in the first set. They even blocked Crowl at least once, "Ruth (Livingston) did block her. I was super excited. She was definitely pumped. But they fought from zero to the end, definitely better in the second and third set.

OHS jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the middle set and were still up 13-11 when Eastview's Caylee Christian went on a 12-0 service run that included five aces. Jenna Gleason had a couple of kills for the Huskies, while Livingston and Anna Vetch had aces.

The Lightning raced to a 12-3 lead in the third set. Owatonna went on a 5-2 burst but the momentum faded.

Gleason and Lanie Schuster led Owatonna with about four kills apiece. Owatonna (0-1) hosts Farmington Tuesday on Owatonna Live. OHS will be at Mankato West Thursday, September 5 on Kat Kountry 105 FM. The Huskies played without two returning starters from last season who are out with injury, Kaitlyn Madole and Haylee Mullenbach.

One of Tuesday's highlights was a saxophone version of the National Anthem performed by Owatonna High School student Lincoln Maher. The Owatonna JV rallied for a 2-1 win over the Lightning as well.

 

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