Game 1: Parkside 3, Mary 2
Game 2: Minnesota Crookston 3, Parkside 2
Parkside volleyball opened up its 2019 season 1-1, after using a huge comeback to top Mary 3-2 in the opener, followed by a tough 3-2 loss to Minnesota Crookston in the opening day of the Keweenaw Volleyball Classic at Michigan Tech.
 
HEAR FROM COACH BAREA
"I'm really happy how the team responded in many different situations today," second-year head coach Leigh Barea said. "In our first match, it is never easy coming back from being down 0-2 but they made adjustments and different people stepped up when we needed them. It was a big win for our confidence! We struggled to find the consistency in our second match, but still fought hard. Preseason matches are for growth and I think we are going to be able to take a lot of what we learned today into tomorrow and the rest of season.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game 1)
The Rangers dropped the first two sets 25-15, 25-21 respectively, but stormed back to take the third 25-23, followed by a 25-18 win in the fourth and a 15-12 win in the fifth to seal the game. In the fifth set, the Rangers trailed 5-4 early, but came back to grab a lead they would not surrender. Mary tied it up at 12-12, but the Rangers won the last three points to claim the win.
 
The Rangers came up big defensively in game one, finishing with 11.0 blocks as a team. In the last three sets, Parkside's hitting percentage was .282, .294 and .444, respectively.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game 2)
Parkside's second match of the day was back-and-forth, with the Golden Eagles taking the first set 25-19, followed by a 25-16 Parkside win in the second to tie it up 1-1. The Golden Eagles won the third 25-18, but the Rangers again tied it up, this time with a 25-14 win in the fourth. In the fifth set, the Green & White trailed 5-1 early and were never able to tie or grab the lead from Minnesota-Crookston, who won the fifth 15-9.
 
STATWORTHY
Junior Rachel Hedman had a big day for the Rangers, finishing with 44 kills on the day, 22 in both match. Sophomore Jazmine Neal finished with 12 kills in each match while freshman Lexi Packard had 14.
 
Freshman Alysha Brickl led the team in assists over the two games with 42 while Ann Leo had 34 digs to lead the way. As a team, the Rangers hit .217 in game one and .122 in game two.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Rangers will continue to battle in Houghton, facing Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday at 10 a.m. followed by a match with Upper Iowa at 2 p.m.