Cowgirls advance with thrilling five-set win at Forest City

The Clarion-Goldfield-Dows varsity volleyball squad may have only finished with around a .500 season record, but as everyone knows you throw out those records come regional time. If they continue to play like they did last week in a thrilling five-set win over the home Forest City (FC) Indians, they just might find themselves in the regional finals. Scores were: L25-20, W25-23, L25-11, W26-24 and W15-13.

The Cowgirls rattled off five straight points, helped out by a Ana Johnson left and an ace served up by Kenna Kruger, to pull to within two at 17-15 Indians. The home team then took three of the next four points as the momentum shifted, but the Cowgirls were unfazed and made a three point run of their own to take the set to 20-19 FC. The Indians then took control, putting away the next four balls in a row before Sydney TerHark stepped up with a kill to stop it at 24-20 Indians. A FC kill inside the line gave them the set.

Forest City was up 16-12 as the Cowgirls used a four-point run to close the gap. That included a slam by Haley Nerem that couldn’t be returned and an ace serve by Johnson.The match then went back and forth as the teams exchanged points and serves before Lili Swanson ignited a key run with a tap over from her middle spot. A Swanson kill was followed by a Indian hit out of bounds and a block back by the busy Swanson. That put the Cowgirls within two points of tying the match at 23-21, and a serve out of bounds gave them set point. Following an Indian timeout, an Indian hit dropped inside the back line for a 24-23 Cowgirl lead. A serve out of bounds then gave them the win.

For the full story, see the October 27 edition of the Monitor.