As the Northern Division gets tighter, the competition will increase for Rainy River Community College.
The Voyageurs let one slip away at home Monday in a 3-2 loss to Mesabi Range. Coming off 25-12 drubbing in pivotal Game 3, RRCC lost momentum and eventually the match — 28-26, 23-25, 12-25, 25-14, 15-8.
“Just lack of focus,” said RRCC head coach Mel Millerbernd, who was still wondering how her squad went from winning 25-12 in Game 3 to losing 25-14 in Game 4.
Hanna Lashmett was one reason. The 6-foot-1 freshman from Babbitt-Embarrass High School destroyed the Voyageurs at the net and from the service line. She finished with a team-high 20 kills and sniped five ace serves, including four in Game 4.
“In the clutch, she’s really performed well,” said Mesabi Range head coach Jo Jo Scott, noting Lashmett had a similar performance in a come-from-behind win against Itasca.
Chrystal Olson, another 6-foot-1 freshman, finished with nine kills and six blocks, and Kayla Blom tallied 10 kills and 11 digs for Mesabi Range. Caitlin Stackpool dished out 35 set assists and had 22 digs.
“That was a big win for us after getting smoked by Hibbing,” Scott said. Mesabi Range lost Friday to Hibbing 3-0 (25-12, 26-24, 25-17).
Samantha Alberts led RRCC with 22 kills and nine digs, Cally Tinkess added 13 kills and 18 digs and Brittany Finnson tallied 10 kills and 10 digs. Danika Stelton finished with a match-high 40 set assists and 16 digs.
“I thought they blocked very well and we did not. They served well and we didn’t,” Millerbernd said. “We just had a lack of emotion. We play well with emotion.”
RRCC had plenty of emotion coming off the win in Game 2. After leading 9-8 in Game 3, the Voyageurs rattled off 16 out of the next 20 points for a lopsided 25-12 tilt. Mesabi Range returned the favor in Game 4, however, when Lashmett’s serving led to a 9-1 lead. She took the serve again up 20-10 and tallied two more aces for a 22-10 lead.
In Game 5, Lashmett was directly involved in seven out of the 15 points. Her first kill gave Mesabi Range a 1-0 lead, and her last kill gave them a 13-8 lead. The match ended two points later following a block from Blom and an unforced error by the Voyageurs, who fall to 10-5 overall and to 4-2 in the division. Mesabi Range improves to 8-6 and 5-1. Its only blemish in the division was Hibbing.
The Voyageurs will look to rebound Wednesday at Central Lakes in a contest that will mark the midway point of the season. Central Lakes is another contending school in the Northern Division, along with Hibbing and Northland.
