The Patriots traveled up to Warner on Tuesday. The much anticipated match between the two top five rated teams did not disappoint as there were several big blocks, hard hits, and tremendous digs by both teams.
As the match started, the Patriots established the block early as they got several block assists on the Monarchs. Both teams exchanged points for most of set one until the Monarchs built a three point lead on the Patriots. The Patriots called a time out and made another run at it and pulling within one point of the Monarchs before Warner called time out. The Monarchs came back and scored three more points to take set one 25-23.
In set two, the Patriots got off to a good start and built a lead of nearly five points at time. The ladies finished off set two by a score of 25-18.
Set three proved to be close throughout. The Patriots found themselves down by four early on in the set as Coach Opp called a time out to regroup. The ladies went on another run and got within two points before Warner used a time out. The two teams would exchange points through a tight set as the Patriot pulled out the set three win by a score of 25-23.
Set four was all Warner as the Patriots found themselves down early on 4-0 and could not find a way to recover. The ladies had a hard time finding the hitters with the blocks. The Patriots also had a hard time getting into an offense. The Monarchs would go on to win set four easily 25-16.
Set five, it was all the Monarchs as the Patriots had a hard time slowing down the Monarchs attack. The Patriots found themselves down early again and could not come back from the deficit as Warner finished set five off 15-4 and handing the Patriots their first loss of the season.
There were several nice performances from different players. Lila Johnson had a big night at the net and finished with 11 kills. Katelyn Schroeder also finished with 11 kills. Schroeder also finished with a team high 16 digs. Rebecca Huizenga, Cora Hofer and Ella Johnson each had 5 kills.
The front row had some great blocks as the team finished with 22 block assists. Isabel Gilbert and Hofer recorded 6 block assists each and Huizenga added 5. Besides Schroeder's 16 digs, there were some other great performances in the back row. Cambree Hoekman tallied 14 digs, Lila Johnson came up with 13, and Gracyn Bixler added 11.
The Jr. High and JV teams would also record a loss on the night.
The Patriots (23-1) will be back in action on Thursday night as they travel to Miller to take on the Rustlers in another big matchup of top rated teams. The annual pink night match will begin at 5:15 when the Jr. High takes the floor.