Maggie Lindow and Riley Hanson took control down the stretch in leading Nevis to a marathon win over Park Rapids in the Tigers' season opener Tuesday night at the Tiger Arena.
Lindow and Hanson finished with 21 kills each in sparking Nevis to a 26-24, 22-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-7 victory.
In Game 1, a kill by Lindow and two kills by Hanson gave Nevis a 5-3 edge. An ace serve by Megan Norby and a kill by Olivia Vaadeland kept the Panthers within 11-8 before Nevis claimed a 16-9 advantage. A tip and kill by Norby made it 17-13 before a kill by Lindow gave Nevis a 22-16 edge. A kill by Hannah Wolff and a kill and winning tip by Norby helped Park Rapids tie the match at 24-24 before Lindow's kill closed out Game 1 for Nevis.
Kills by Wolff and Vaadeland and an ace serve by Jenny Palm offset four kills and a block by Lindow as Park Rapids jumped out to a 16-13 lead in Game 2. A block by Vaadeland during Wolff's serve pushed the Panthers' advantage to 21-13. A tip by Mandy Allman, two kills by Lindow and a kill by Annessa Feder rallied Nevis to within 24-22 before Park Rapids tied the match.
In Game 3, a tip by Norby and a kill by Ashley Domino kept Park Rapids within 5-4 before Hanson served an ace and Lindow had a kill to spark an 8-3 run. A kill and tip by Hailey Lundin and kills by Wolff and Norby had the Panthers within 17-12 before an ace serve by Hanson, a kill by Feder and a spike by Paige Walters helped Nevis close out the game.
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Two kills, a block and a tip by Hanson gave Nevis a 6-1 lead in Game 4. Two kills by Wolff, a spike by Norby, a kill by Vaadeland and a block by Lundin gave the Panthers a 14-13 lead. Kills by Hanson and Lindow sparked Nevis to a 19-18 advantage before an ace serve by Shelby Weckwerth helped Park Rapids close with a 7-3 run to force a deciding game.
Hanson had two kills and a winning spike and Walters served an ace to give Nevis a 10-3 edge in Game 5. Lindow sealed the victory with three kills down the stretch, including a kill on the final point. Norby and Wolff had kills for Park Rapids in the deciding game.
Hanson served seven aces, Allman had 39 set assists, and Lindow (14), Allman (12) and Walters (11) had double digits in digs to lead the Tigers.
Norby had nine kills and 10 digs, Wolff had eight kills and four ace serves, Lundin had seven kills and 10 digs, Palm tallied 20 set assists and Weckwerth had 12 digs for the Panthers.
Panthers go 0-4 at Albany
The Panthers opened the season by dropping four matches at last Friday's Albany tournament.
Minnewaska prevailed 22-25, 27-25, 15-12 in the first game. Lundin and Wolff served four aces each while Norby and Wolff had six kills apiece. Weckwerth led the way with six digs.
In the second round, Rocori rolled to a 25-14, 25-18 victory. Lundin had four kills and Norby had six digs to lead the Panthers.
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Maple Lake defeated the Panthers 25-13, 25-16 in the third round. Norby had three kills for the Panthers.
The Panthers ended the tournament with a 23-25, 25-20, 16-14 loss to Albany. Palm and Lundin served two aces each while Norby had 10 kills and 17 digs.
