LITTLEFORK — Orr spoiled Parent’s Night for Littlefork-Big Falls on Monday with a 3-1 victory (25-15, 21-25, 25-22, 25-12).
The Braves (14-7) used a punishing service game and some talented youth to hand the Vikings (13-10) their second straight loss.
“Our confidence is lacking,” said a frustrated Vikings senior Haylee Gates.
“It’s just so ridiculous. We have the talent in practice, but we come into games and have stage fright or something.”
Orr piled up 17 ace serves and kept the Vikings passing on their heels all night. Sophomore LaShae Brooks was a force in the middle with 16 kills, four ace blocks and two ace serves, while eighth-grader Destinie Villebrun posted 10 kills, 16 set assists and six ace blocks. Fellow eighth-grader Tessa Mankus finished with nine set assists, seven digs and a 100 percent serve percentage. Jennica Astleford added five kills, seven digs and four ace serves.
“We just need intensity and energy,” Gates said. “Those are the two key words going into playoffs.”
L-BF head coach Kim Wimmer agreed.
“We definitely played flat,” she said. “We need to come to our next game more focused with more energy.”
Gates led the Vikings with seven kills, two ace serves and two blocks, but there were few other highlights. Chelsey Ziemba was next in line with three kills and Hannah Hell, Brooke Millerbernd and Hannah Larson each finished with two ace serves.
L-BF rebounded from a flat Game 1 to take Game 2, but pivotal Game 3 proved decisive. The two Section 7A foes were tied at 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 22, but Orr got a potential free ball to fall between six Vikings to make it 23-22. L-BF failed to return a good serve by Ashly Sokoloski that put Orr up 24-22, and the Braves ended the game when the Vikings failed to return another serve.
Game 4 was a mess for the Vikings returning serves. Trailing 6-5, the Vikings couldn’t figure out Braves libero Tiffany Skinaway, and the junior rattled off 12 straight points to make it 18-5. Only one point in the run came from an ace, but Skinaway still finished with six ace serves and 13 digs.
The match ended with a kill from Krystin Correa.
L-BF’s next bit of action is Thursday at Mountain Iron-Buhl in the final contest of the regular season. The Section 7A tournament is scheduled to begin Oct. 26.
