Cowgirls defeat East Sac County to return to state

The Raiders gave it everything they had, but in the end it just wasn’t enough as the Cowgirls punched their ticket for Cedar Rapids again after defeating East Sac County in three straight sets by scores of 25-8, 25-20 and 25-19. The first set saw Kendall Lienemann served them to a 6-0 lead. Later, Alaina Friesleben took the score to 10-2 and forced a Raider timeout.

With Morgan Middleton serving at 14-3, they would outscore ESC four points to one to make it 18-4. The next serve had the Raiders unable to return the ball for a 19-4 lead, which forced them to again call timeout.

Two straight Cowgirl points were followed by a block that went out on te ESC side of the net for a commanding 21-5 advantage. Following a Raider point, a net call gave the Cowgirls a 23-6 margin. Another Raider point saw Jadyn Jondle not quite able to reach the ball before it hit the floor. That would be all they would get, as Middleton stepped up with a kill to end the set.

Set two saw the Raiders being much more competitive in keeping it close. Following an early 6-2 lead, the Cowgirls went on a run to outscore them four points to one to go up 7-6. The momentum then swung back to ESC for a 10-7 lead, followed by the Cowgirls going up 12-11. Later, an ace serve by Jondle tied it at 14-14. Friesleben served them to 16-16, with Middleton serving to an 18-17 lead in the back and forth set. The Raiders couldn’t return a serve to make it 19-17 Cowgirls, only to have them give a point back to ESC.

For the full story, see this week's Monitor