By Mike Drooger –

They knew it wouldn’t be easy, but they also knew if they played well, the Dutchmen could defeat the Falcons of Red Rock Central. Edgerton and RRC had tangled a month earlier at Edgerton where the Dutchmen had fought tooth and nail to the finish, but the Falcons took the match 3-1.

RRC received the fourth rank in Section 3 play while Edgerton was given the 5th spot, which meant Edgerton had to travel to Lamberton for the Friday night match. The Falcons moved on in tournament action while Edgerton’s season came to a screeching halt. Set scores were 27-25, 25-13, and 26-24.

The Dutchmen fell behind by seven points in the first set (8-15) before they slowly climbed back into it and tied the set at 24-24. After falling behind 24-25, Alyda Vande Griend registered a kill to tie it, but the Falcons got the final two points for a 27-25 win.

Edgerton had trouble from the start of the second set and never could recover losing 25-13. During coach Katelyne Alderson’s radio interview with Tom Bouma of KDWC after the match, Alderson said, “Match two has never been good for us. Hopefully, we’ll figure it out eventually.”

The third set was very evenly played and could have gone either way, but RRC’s super hitter—6’3” Karli Arkell—made sure her team came out on top. Her 20th and final kill of the evening gave her team a 26-24 win. EHS had tied the game at 20, which prompted a Falcon timeout. Once play resumed, RRC scored the next three points, and that brought about an EHS timeout where the Dutchmen regrouped.