Cloquet Captures LSC Volleyball Title

Chris Shevich-NSO

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Oct 19

Kerry Rodd-NSO

CLOQUET – The long run of Lake Superior Conference volleyball titles is over for the Hermantown Hawks. Last night the Cloquet Lumberjacks defeated the Hawks 25-22, 20-25, 26-24 and 25-21 to end the nine-year, 61-match win streak of Hermantown.

How long ago was it that the Hawks actually lost an LSC match? You have to go back to October of 2001 when Cloquet beat Hermantown in Cloquet. With the win the Lumberjacks win their second ever and first since 1997 LSC Championship.

The first game was a back and forth affair with neither team taking much of an edge. Cloquet made their move while trailing 13-11 they got a side out point on a tip by Emily Fossen, who finished with 16-kills in the game, and then three straight service points from Maddy Kiehn as they went ahead 15-13. From that point on it was like riding a wave of emotion as both teams had moments of brilliance and every point was a wild scramble. The Jacks eventually prevailed by scoring the final three points of the match.

Hermantown responded quickly in game two and reeled off eight straight points to go up 8-0 and at one point led it 10-1, but Cloquet managed to stabilize their defense and even though they lost the game it seemed to set the tone for the next two games.

Game three saw Cloquet slowly sneak out to a 9-4 lead, but the Hawks displayed some strong power on the left side from Stephanie Kallberg, who recorded 13-kills. The game was decided at the end when the Jacks managed to get the final two points of the game on two lengthy points that had both teams making diving plays to keep a long rally alive.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at kerry@northlandsportsonline.com