Eagles fall to Breckenridge 3-1 to end season

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The New York Mills Eagles kicked off their sub section tournament with a 3-0 sweep over Park Christian on Wednesday night. The Eagles, who were seeded fifth, knocked off the fourth seeded Falcons on the road to set up a tough matchup against the top seeded Breckenridge Cowgirls on Friday night. Unfortunately, Breckenridge was able to sneak by NY Mills by a 3-1 score to end the Eagles’ season with a record of 20-11.

The Eagles wrapped up their year with a third place finish in the Park Region Conference with a record of 5-2, behind just Wadena-Deer Creek and Sebeka. 

Wednesday

Fifth seeded NY Mills hit the road on Wednesday to take on fourth seeded Park Christian in the opening round of the sub section tournament. In their only other matchup of the season, the Eagles fell to the Falcons by a score of 3-2 on September 10.

This time around it was NY Mills getting the best of Park Christian as the Eagles swept the Falcons 3-0 to advance to the sub section semi-finals. While all of the games were close throughout the set, NY Mills was able to come away with 25-22, 25-23 and 25-21 wins to complete the three game sweep.

Ayla Olson led the way offensively for NY Mills as she had a team-high 14 kills to go along with a team-high 13 assists and a team-high 21 digs. 

Alayna Baune finished with seven kills and Annika Dunrud finished with six kills to help lead the charge. Gabi Vaden finished with 10 digs, while Chloe Costin and Olson each finished with two ace serves.

NYM vs. PCHS

25-22, 25-23, 25-21

SERVING: Ayla Olson 8-11 (2 ace), Alayna Baune 12-12, Annika Dunrud 13-15 (1 ace), Chloe Costin 10-12 (2 ace), Gabi Vaden 12-12, Belle Vaden 11-11 (1 ace)

KILLS: Ayla Olson 14, Alayna Baune 7, Annika Dunrud 6, Eliyana Ruther 3, Chloe Costin 1, Alivia Preuss 1

BLOCKS: Ayla Olson 3, Alayna Baune 7, Annika Dunrud 1, Chloe Costin 2, Alivia Preuss 3

ASSISTS: Ayla Olson 13, Alayna Baune 1, Annika Dunrud 7, Chloe Costin 6, Gabi Vaden 2

DIGS: Ayla Olson 21, Alayna Baune 7, Annika Dunrud 9, Eliyana Ruther 2, Chloe Costin 1, Gabi Vaden 10, Belle Vaden 6

Friday

The Eagles hit the road once again on Friday night for their sub section semi-finals game against Breckenridge. The Eagles dropped a back-and-forth opening game by a score of 27-25, before bouncing back in a big way against the top seeded Cowgirls with a 25-13 win to even the match up at one game apiece.

After Breckenridge won the third game by a score of 25-18, the Eagles found themselves with a must-win fourth game to avoid elimination from the playoffs. NY Mills nearly pulled off the win to force a fifth game as they narrowly fell 25-23 in the fourth game to end their season by a 3-1 score to top seeded Breckenridge.

Ayla Olson once again led the way offensively for the Eagles as she finished with 25 kills to go along with 10 assists and a team-high 24 digs. 

Annika Dunrud had a sold night at the net as she finished with 11 kills to go along with 16 digs, while Chloe Costin finished with a team-high 19 assists. 

Alayna Baune finished with 18 digs and three kills, while Gabi Vaden and Belle Vaden each reached double figures with 14 and 11 digs respectively.

NYM vs BHS

25-27, 25-13, 18-25, 23-25

SERVING: Ayla Olson 18-19 (2 ace), Annika Dunrud 7-9, Chloe Costin 14-14, Alayna Baune 21-21 (1 ace), Gabi Vaden 16-16 (1 ace) Belle Vaden 12-13

KILLS: Ayla Olson 25, Annika Dunrud 11, Eliyana Ruther 5, Chloe Costin 3, Alayna Baune 3, Alivia Preuss 2

BLOCKS: Ayla Olson 3, Annika Dunrud 1, Chloe Costin 4, Alayna Baune 7, Alivia Preuss 1

ASSISTS: Ayla Olson 10, Annika Dunrud 6, Chloe Costin 19, Alayna Baune 1, Alivia Preuss 2, Gabi Vaden 7

DIGS: Ayla Olson 24, Annika Dunrud 16, Eliyana Ruther 10, Chloe Costin 6, Alayna Baune 18, Alivia Preuss 1, Gabi Vaden 14, Belle Vaden 11