Cowgirls roar back from slow start to win home opener

Kaehler dominant with 22 kills 

• By Robert Wanek Jr.

Breckenridge looked sluggish in the opening set against Pelican Rapids on Tuesday, but that icy start quickly melted away behind the hot hand of Camryn Kaehler (22 kills, 10 digs, 9 aces). After a 25-21 defeat, the Cowgirls won three straight sets (29-27, 25-17, 25-16), improving to 2-0 with an impressive showing in their 2020 home opener.

In danger of dropping the second set and falling behind 0-2, Breckenridge rallied to tie things up at 13-13 on a Sophie Larson ace. The Cowgirls benefited from a run of four consecutive aces by Kaehler and her crushing kill which sent the volleyball bouncing to the top of the bleachers near the press area. Larson clinched the set and evened the match with a clutch kill to end the action at 29-27.

In the third set, Breckenridge again fell behind early, but took the lead on Kaehler’s 20th kill of the evening. Several diving plays from Libero Riley Finkral kept key volleys alive. At this point the Cowgirls looked very loose, as the bench involvement and surprisingly loud (and limited) crowd started to grasp the momentum from the Vikings. Jude Held (11 kills) started to exploit soft spots in the Vikings defense with finesse tips near the net, and Victoria Undem put the set away with a strong offensive push at the finish.

Breckenridge ran through a deflated Vikings squad in set number four, 25-16. The Cowgirls travel to Perham on Thursday to face the Yellowjackets at 7:30 p.m.

Stat Leaders:

Camryn Kaehler (22 kills, 10 digs, 9 aces)
Jude Held (11 kills, 6 digs)
Abby Johnson (11 kills, 5 digs)
Sophie Larson (22 assists, 8 digs)
Carcie Materi (21 assists, 9 digs)
​Riley Finkral (18 digs, 4 assists)