Playing their second straight Class A team on back-to-back nights and coming off a big win over the Dell Rapids Quarriers, the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals fell to the Baltic Bulldogs in Baltic on Tuesday, September 29th. The Bulldogs won in straight sets by scores of 25-18, 25-20, and 27-25.
The first set was a close battle that saw both teams have leads of three points early in the set. The Cardinals had a three-point advantage at 14-11, but the Bulldogs scored the next five points to take a 16-14 lead. The lead grew to six points at 22-16 and eventually to seven for the 25-18 win.
The second set was back-and-forth almost the entire way. There were over 15 ties in the set between the two teams. St Mary looked to have taken a slight advantage when they took an 19-16 lead. Baltic scored the next four points to take the lead at 20-19. The Cardinals forced another tie at 20-20, but Baltic scored the last five points for the 25-20 win.
The two teams played it close early in the third set as well. The score was tied 8-8 before the Cardinals went on a 7-1 run for a 15-9 advantage. The lead stayed at six points for St Mary at 23-17, but Baltic went on a 7-0 run to take a 24-23 lead. The Cardinals tied the set at 24-24, and then Baltic had to tie it at 25-25. The Bulldogs then scored the final two points for the 27-25 set win for the match.
Courtney Brown had eight kills and 13 digs in the match. Ella Heinitz finished with 11 set assists, 10 digs, seven kills, two blocks, and two ace serves. Ella Griffin had seven set assists, six digs, four kills, and four ace serves. Macie Brown and Josie Baumberger both had seven digs.
The Cardinals (6-3) travel to Lake Preston on Thursday, October 1st.