Even with all the new faces, International Falls crushed a young Mountain Iron-Buhl squad 3-0 Thursday in front of a large crowd at Falls High School. The scores in the season opener were 25-12, 25-21, 25-13.
“We did good. Definitely learned a lot, but we played good,” said senior co-captain Kara Kennedy.
With only two returning starters — Kennedy and junior co-captain Sydney Gordon — the Broncos expect some growing pains early in the season. They took a step forward in their first match.
“They know what they need to do and it got rid of the confusion,” Kennedy said about the experience gained against the Rangers, who only sport two seniors and one junior on the roster.
The Rangers (0-1) struggled all night and the Broncos (1-0) took advantage.
In Game 1, Reva Renollet got things rolling early with a kill for a 1-0 lead, and the Broncos tallied nine out of the first 14 points. Sophie Fredrickson added a kill later to make it 12-7 and a kill by Gordon made it 16-10. The Rangers never threatened as the Broncos scored nine out of the next 12 points.
Game 2 was even sloppier, and the Broncos trailed 21-19 before Katie Graves’ serve took over. Graves, a transfer from Indus last year, recorded an ace to tie it at 21, and after a kill from Gordon, another ace made it 23-21. The Rangers lost the last two points on unforced errors.
The Broncos cruised out to a 4-0 lead in Game 3 and sent fans home — or to the International Falls Bass Championship festivities — early. A kill by Gordon made it 11-3, and another kill by Stella Fredrickson doubled the Rangers up at 18-9. The game ended fittingly on an unforced error by Mountain-Iron Buhl.
Gordon finished with 12 kills, Kennedy dished out 16 set assists, Renollet tallied seven digs and Graves went 15-for-15 serving for the Broncos, who opened their eighth season under head coach Erin Shikowsky.
“Everything just needs to be improved upon, even our basic skills,” she said.
The Broncos will have a week to improve before traveling Thursday to Littlefork.
“The girls will be fired up for Littlefork. It’s a good rival and a lot of them went to camp together over the summer,” Shikowsky said.
Match notes
• Broncos assistant coach Rachel Hasbargen-Glowack experienced her first game in purple and gold on the bench. She spent the last two seasons as the head volleyball coach at Nashwauk-Keewatin.
“I had a good time,” she said.
• Renollet notched the Broncos’ first kill of the season, Stella Fredrickson tallied the first block and Sophie Fredrickson had the first ace serve.
• The Bronco starters were Sara Bacon, Sophie Fredrickson, Gordon, Graves, Kennedy and Renollet. Mackenzie Raboin played libero.
• The Broncos played shorthanded with three varsity members in street clothes. Brooke Graves and Ashley Bahr were ineligible due to academic reasons, and Kassie Dotzler was out sick, according to Shikowsky.
