FARIBAULT -- Lyle/Austin Pacelli saw its volleyball season come to an abrupt halt with a 3-1 loss to Medford in the quarterfinals of the Sub-section West, Section 1A tournament on Thursday.
L/P, playing its first sub-section contest, suffered a 15-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-21 setback to fifth-seeded Medford. The Athletics were the No. 4 seed .
"We had beaten them earlier at the Southland Tourney, but we seemed to fall apart," L/P co-coach Carl Ellis said.
The Athletics start strong in winning the first game.
"We got off to a good start and took advantage of their mistakes," Ellis said. "They gave us points with hitting errors."
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But the Tigers quickly regrouped and began cutting down on their mistakes. When Medford pulled out a close victory in the second game, it set the tone for the rest of the match.
Nina Hollerud hit a winner late in the second game from the back row. But L/P was called for a rare back-row attack which gave the point and serve to Medford.
"We would've had the lead and the serve," Ellis said. "After that the momentum seemed to shift."
Medford went on to close out the second game. L/P then struggled in the third game.
"In the third game, we just weren't there," Ellis said. "Our back row defense played too deep and we didn't adjust. It's disappointing that we didn't come together."
The semifinals and finals of the sub-section will now move to Mayo Civic Center in Rochester on Saturday and next Thursday.
"Four straight years we made it to Mayo," Ellis said. "It's disappointing not to get there again. We just didn't play well. Our play toward the end of the season had improved but we fell apart."
The Athletics finish with an 18-12 record.
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Stats for L/P were: Laura Christensen 6 digs; Karina Golberg 8 kills, 10 digs, 4 blocks; Hollerud 3 kills, 13 set assists, 7 digs; Chelsey Roberts 9 set assists; Kelli Rogers 6 kills, 7 digs; Laura Enstad 2 ace serves, 3 digs; Lindsay Halbach 10 kills, 3 digs; Anna Bergstrom 6 kills, 2 digs.
