Momentum is hard to gain and, sometimes, easy to lose in volleyball.
Just ask Grand Forks Red River coach Carolyn Olson.
Her Roughriders went on a big third-set run to take a 2-1 lead in sets Tuesday. But Fargo Shanley recaptured the momentum and went on to a 26-24, 20-25, 21-25, 25-16, 15-11 win in a matchup of two perennial East Region high school volleyball powers at Red River High School.
Red River closed the third set on a 9-1 run, including seven unanswered points served out by Hallie Roed to close it. Momentum? That lasted until the fourth set, when the Deacons started on a 9-2 spurt.
"You go up 2-1 and you feel like you have momentum, that you're moving in the right direction,'' Olson said. "Then we relaxed. We went to a passive instead of an aggressive game. We were in defensive mode.''
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Shanley scored the the final five points of the fourth set and jumped to a 3-0 lead to start the fifth. Red River stayed close, taking a 7-6 lead at one point and was within 12-11. But 6-foot senior Caira Berg scored the match's final three points on kills to put away the win.
Berg finished with 26 kills, while Hadley Huber had eight kills and four blocks to lead Shanley at the net.
"Those two were huge for us,'' Shanley coach Curt Johnson said. "When you get Caira the ball, she flat-out can put it away.''
After Red River's 9-1 close of the third set, "we told the girls we had to keep going at them hard,'' Johnson said. "Red River is a good defensive team. But we did keep going at them hard.''
Red River had three hitters in double figures at the net in Maggie Steffen (24 kills, two blocks), Alexis Brown (13 kills) and Kaylee Lancaster (11 kills, two blocks).
"We gave up too many runs of three or more points and we can't afford to do that,'' Olson said. "Those runs change games.''
Shanley had 10 runs of three or more unanswered points, five of those coming in the final two sets.
Shanley improved to 6-2 while Red RIver dropped to 3-5 in what was the East Region opener for both teams.
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"We're young and inexperienced,'' Olson said. "We'll get better. And we are competing.''
