Eagles nearly upset top-seeded Marathon in regional final

The No.4-seeded Northland Pines varsity volleyball team ended its season in heartbreak after pushing top-seeded Marathon to the absolute limit last Saturday on the road in a thrilling five-set regional final match.

The Eagles went the distance against the Raiders but ultimately took a tough 3-2 loss (17-25, 25-20, 12-25, 25-18, 15-17). The fifth and deciding set went to extra points, which shows how competitive the match was.

“We knew going into this match that it was going to be a battle, and our girls were ready for it,” said Head Coach Julie Smith. “What a match. Both teams fought hard, and it truly came down to the final points. It was an emotional ending, especially after fighting so hard and coming that close, but I couldn’t be prouder of this group of young ladies. Their determination, hard work, and heart made this a very special season. They gave us so much to be proud of.”

The two teams came out firing and traded wins in the first two sets and entered the third tied 1-1. Marathon, who only held three losses this season heading into the match, put the hammer down in the third set and won by nearly 15 points. That didn’t stop the Eagles from fighting to regain momentum. Northland Pines faced a tough Raider rotation and came into the match needing to do multiple things to remain in the game. It executed some of those things in the fourth set and came away with a 25-18 win to force a deciding fifth set.

“Marathon presented a tough challenge with multiple powerful attackers in every rotation. The Eagles struggled at times with serve receive, forcing them to play out of system and limiting opportunities to establish a consistent offense,” stated Coach Smith.

To counter that, the Eagles used the service line to attack in an attempt to keep Marathon on its toes throughout the night.

“We knew we needed to serve aggressively to force Marathon out of system whenever possible to try to avoid their middle attack, and I thought our girls did a great job with that overall,” explained Coach Smith.
Despite having some struggles with getting clean passes on serves, the Eagles’ outside hitters made the most of their opportunities at the net in such a tight match. Sophomore Alyssa Kevilus led the offense with 18 kills, followed by senior Kami Neff with 12, while senior Natalie Kohn contributed five kills from the middle.

Northland Pines also put together a strong blocking performance throughout the match. Kohn led with four recorded block kills, while Kevilus and Sophia Kusick each added three.

Defensively, Eden Smith led with 16 digs, followed closely by Payton Sullivan with 15 and Kevilus with 13.

“Our defense was working incredibly hard against an offense that brought a level of attacking from every position that we hadn’t experienced very often this season,” Smith mentioned. “I was proud of how our girls continued to compete and find ways to stay in the match.”

This game was set up after a home 3-1 regional semifinal win over Amherst last Thursday at Northland Pines High School. The Eagles defeated the Falcons by a score of 25-13, 21-25, 25-16 and 25-18. Pines closed the door in the fourth set with a nice serving performance from freshman Alexia Stenberg, who served for a handful of significant points in the set.

The season was an overall success with a 25-12 record, and the Eagles finished second in the Great Northern Conference. The team has a bright future with a lot of young talent likely returning next fall, but will miss the four seniors (Neff, Tatum Fisher, Kohn and Lyla Lederer) who will be lost to graduation.