Volleyball roundup: Community Christian School gets off to a good start

WILLMAR — The Community Christian School volleyball team earned a four-set victory in front of a loud crowd in its season opener against Cambridge Christian School on Monday.

CCS, which won the Christian Athletic League year-end tournament in 2022, defeated the Warriors 25-21, 25-15, 20-25 and 25-22.

“I am proud of the girls,” Eagles head coach Rebecca Westin said. “We actually only had two practices before this where we had all of them together, so they’ve had very little time to play together.”

Lexi Nelson, a 5-foot-9-inch sophomore middle hitter, led CCS. She had a team-best nine kills, adding 10 digs and two ace serves.

“She’s one of our team captains,” said Eagles senior defensive specialist Anna Lindgren, who also had 10 digs. “She really stepped up her game, she was really encouraging and she was very focused.”

Behind Nelson, Margo Klaassen and Grace Strom helped pace CCS.

Klaassen, a 5-11 sophomore middle hitter, had eight kills, five digs, one ace serve and an ace block.

Strom, a 5-7 sophomore setter, had a team-high 10 ace serves with seven digs and three kills.

With the loud crowd and minimal practice time, CCS struggled with its coverage and communication. The Eagles will look to improve upon these things as the season goes on.

“I want to see the team be more aggressive, go for the ball more and dive for it no matter what,” Lindgren said. “Just not shy away from the ball.”

CCS plays Immanuel Lutheran at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at Immanuel Lutheran School in Mankato.

Cambridge Christian (0-1) 21 15 25 22Community Christian (1-0) 25 25 20 25

Cambridge ChristianStats not available

Community ChristianServing (aces): Grace Strom 10, Faith Westin 4, Kaiya Norbie 3, Lexi Nelson 2, Margo Klaassen 1 … Set assists: not available … Hitting (kills): Nelson 9, Klaassen 8, Strom 3, Norbie 3, Westin 1 … Blocking (aces): Norbie 2, Klaassen 1 … Digs (5 or more): Anna Lindgren 10, Nelson 10, Norbie 9, Westin 8, Strom 7, Klaassen 5

MACCRAY secured a straight-set victory on the road in a non-conference match with Chippewa County rival Montevideo.

The Wolverines got 12 kills and eight digs from Brielle Janssen. Annie Bourne collected 27 set assists, and Emma Thein finished with nine kills and nine digs.

Maren Nelson and Avery Williams each had six kills for the Thunder Hawks. Addie Olson tallied 19 set assists.

MACCRAY is host to Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa at 5:45 p.m. Thursday. Montevideo is back in action at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Melrose.

MACCRAY (1-0) 25 25 25Montevideo (0-1) 19 18 20

MACCRAYServing (aces): Addisyn Pederson 3, Brielle Janssen 1, Kori Bristle 1 … Set assists: Annie Bourne 27 … Hitting (kills): Janssen 12, Emma Thein 9, Pederson 5, Bristle 3, Bourne 3, Lexi Nurmi 1 … Blocking (aces): none … Digs (5 or more): Bristle 9, Thein 9, Janssen 8, Nurmi 5, Bourne 5

MontevideoServing (aces): Avery Williams 4, Addie Olson 3, Maren Nelson 2, Taya Weber 1 … Set assists: Olson 19, Teagan Epema 2, Williams 1, Emmie Koenen 1 … Hitting (kills): Nelson 6, Williams 6, Koenen 3, Madison Picht 2, Weber 1 … Blocking (aces): Koenen 2, Nelson 1, Picht 1, Olson 1 … Digs (5 or more): Epema 5