By Mike Drooger –

If every volleyball match for the Edgerton Flying Dutchmen goes like the season opener in Luverne, fans will need to invest in stadium cushions, Tums, and work on their quickness to and from bathroom breaks so they don’t miss any of the action.

It looked great for EHS after the first two games, but the Luverne Cardinals regrouped and took the next three games to win a thriller three games to two. Game scores were 29-31, 18-25, 25-18, 25-22, and 15-13.

There were nine ties in the opening game beginning at 9-9. Edgerton had led 9-6, but the Cards rattled off seven straight points to take a 13-9 lead. A Reece Wassink kill killed the Luverne streak, and then Emma Schoolmeester (1 ace) toed the service line. Schooly served points 11 and 12 for Edgerton (point 12 was a tip at the net by Haley Wieck). After falling behind 12-15, EHS got kills from Wassink (2 aces, 16 kills, 4 blocks, 16 set assists) and two kills from Alyda Vande Griend (16 kills, 4 blocks). Benalyn Smit (31 digs) had two service points and it was 15-all.

Edgerton trailed 17-18 before Luverne “gave” Edgerton a trio of points on a long hit, a wide hit, and a rotation violation. EHS had one- and two-point leads until the game was knotted at 24-apiece. Luverne went ahead, but Wassink got a kill. Luverne took the lead again, but then they were in the net for 26-26. Wassink, who showed great court awareness all night, pushed the ball into an open spot for a 27-26 EHS lead. The game was tied at 27, 28, and 29 before Edgerton took over. LHS was called for a double hit to make it 30-29 and then KDWC radio Player of the Game Mateya Gilbertson (15-for-15 serving, 17 set assists) served, which eventually led to a Wassink block at the net and Edgerton took the marathon game 31-29.

After the game, on Tom Bouma’s KDWC radio interview, Edgerton coach Katelyne Alderson jokingly said about the first game: “We played to 31…I wondered ‘Is there a cap…do we play to 40?’” They didn’t have to go quite that far, but it might have felt like it in this the opening game of the 2021 season.

Wassink got a pair of kills in game two that helped propel her team to an 8-3 lead. Later, after a Savannah Schultz block and a pair of service points from Schoolmeester (Wieck got a block on the second serve), Edgerton enjoyed an 11-7 lead. That lead blossomed to 18-11, thanks to great court coverage by the Dutchmen and two more Wassink kills.

Edgerton maintained a lead of around four points over the remaining action in game two until the end when they started to pull away. Wassink again got a kill and she pushed one over on the second hit taking Luverne by surprise. A Luverne net serve for point 24 and a Luverne spike attempt in the next ended the game, and Edgerton enjoyed a two games to none lead.

EHS could not ride the momentum and excitement of the first two games into the third contest as they fell behind 0-6 right out of the chute. They did get to within 6-8 but that was as close as they would come in an 18-25 loss.

The fourth game saw EHS gain a quick lead behind the hitting of Vande Griend, Schultz, and Wieck. Behind that trio of spikers, Edgerton moved ahead 7-4, and they still led 16-14 after another Wieck kill. They enjoyed a lead of 21-18 after Smit’s quick reflexes allowed her to “punch” the ball over the net after she got in front of a Cardinal spike attempt. But Luverne ended the fourth game with a run of 8-1 and evened the game score at two each.

Game five was a mirror image of game three as EHS got behind 1-6. Much to their credit, they did work their way back into the contest, pulling to within two on six occasions. The score even became 13-14 after LHS served wide, but a Cardinal kill ended the fifth and deciding game.

Kresley Fraser was a perfect 19-for-19 from the service line and she contributed 18 digs. Jaden Weinkauf collected an ace serve.

After the match, an excited Coach Alderson said, “Honestly, I have very little to be mad about. We played incredibly. I am excited. If we play all season the same as we did against Luverne tonight, we’ll take a lot of games in our conference. We really played fabulously.”