Armstrong Volleyball Loses to Blaine

Armstrong High School's volleyball team had another tall order on their hands when they hosted the unbeaten Blaine Bengals on Thursday night.

“We have played and hung with five of the top 15 teams this year,” said Falcons Coach Ayesha Green. “We nearly beat Edina last weekend for the championship of the Heritage Christian Tournament and fought hard to beat Osseo in five.”

The Bengals, ranked sixth in the state, became the sixth top-15 team the Falcons have faced. In addition, the Falcons gave the Bengals a couple tough games before bowing out in a 3-0 loss.

“It helps us know where we can be,” said Falcons player Indigo Thompson about the tough competition.

The Falcons rallied from an early deficit to tie the first game 16-16 and give the Bengals a close contest in the first game of the match. The Bengals came out on top in the first game 25-20.

The Falcons jumped to a 4-0 start in the second game with a kill. The Falcons kept the momentum coming for a 6-1 start to the game. The Falcons stayed close after the Bengals rallied to take the lead at 12-11.

“It felt amazing,” said Falcons player Olivia Keogh said about keeping up with the Bengals.

The Bengals began to pull away after a 19-18 contest in their favor. The Falcons showed some life with a late kill that had been called fair and was close to the out-of-bounds line, but the Bengals held on 25-21 in the second game.

In the third game, the Falcons could not get their offense going against the Bengals as the visitors ran away early and never looked back. The Falcons struggled against the Bengals' persistent kills, digs and aces.

“It's not the best we've played against a highly ranked team,” Green said.

Green anticipates that the team will start picking up the pace in the win column with no ranked opponents in the coming weeks. The Falcons sit at 6-7 overall with the loss to the Bengals.