ALBANY, Minn. — With sights set on Section 6AA three-peat, No. 7 Albany got past its first test in No. 10 Cathedral with a competitive 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-23, 25-21) victory.
“I think we were attacking really smartly,” head coach Brian Hines said. “We were attacking certain zones, and I thought we blocked really well. Our girls in the back row made some huge plays when it really counted. It was a good night for us.”
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In each of the sets, the Huskies trailed to some extent, trailing 8-2 early in the first set, behind 20-17 in the third set and down 21-20 in a back-and-forth fourth set.
Such adversity is nothing new for this Albany squad; however, when it is a win-or-go home, that pressure is amplified compared to the regular season. The student sections are a little bit louder; the bench celebrations are a bit more jubilant and the looming thought of the last set ever by the seniors is a heavy thought to ignore when trailing.
“[I’m telling them] to believe in their training,” Hines said. “If we’re calling a timeout, it’s a lot of feedback to the players on reaffirming what they can do out on the court.”
After each timeout, such reaffirmation from Hines clearly worked as the Huskies went on a run after nearly each timeout. With the most important scoring run coming to close-out the game with five consecutive points in the fourth set after trailing 21-20.
A couple of different bounces and the Crusaders get a tiebreaking fifth set. Instead, a 3-1 defeat and the end of a season.
Albany was fueled by a dominant all-around effort from junior setter Lucy Schulte, who handed out 42 assists while adding nine digs, three blocks, two aces and a perfect 15-for-15 serving performance. Junior right side hitter Indianna Gaebel led the attack with 15 kills and contributed six digs and two blocks, while junior libero Brooke Boecker anchored the defense with 28 digs. The balanced production carried over to the rest of the lineup, as junior outside hitter Layla Wenderski added 11 kills and freshman outside hitter Brooklyn Austin chipped in 10 of her own.
“If we can consistently pass well, we know we have great hitters in the front row all over,” Hines said. “Layla and Brooklyn have played well; Indianna had a huge night on the right side and our middles have been playing well. It was nice to see all of our hitters thrive.”
The Huskies 16-12 on the season and play at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 29 at No. 2 Milaca in the Section 6AA Semifinals.
You can reach St. Cloud Times sports reporter David Jacobs and send story ideas and tips to djacobs@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @davidrjacobs10, and on Instagram @ByDavidJacobs.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Albany volleyball starts quest for Section 6AA three-peat with win vs. Cathedral