Volleyball: Cannon Falls overpowers Goodhue at home

Cannon Falls senior MaKenzie Franklin hits the ball hard.

During Thursday’s three-set victory against Goodhue, Franklin put down a kill a little too hard.

“She said when she hit it, she got an instant headache,” Cannon Falls head coach Melissa Huseth said.

The Bombers (3-0, 2-0 HVL) will take a few more of those headaches if the wins keep coming. Franklin led Cannon Falls with 10 kills and one ace block as the Bombers won 25-13, 25-21, 25-15.

“She’s just good,” Goodhue head coach Andy Kimball said. “But I felt like we played well against her. She can do everything. … We worried more about our own situation.”

The Wildcats (0-2, 0-2 HVL) are dealing with inexperience and injuries and it showed Thursday night. Goodhue found few extended rallies outside of the second set and were unable to contend with Cannon Falls’ strong blockers.

“We weren’t getting overwhelmed but we weren’t playing well,” Kimball said. “A lot of it comes down to reps and discipline.”

Juniors Mikayla Tipcke and Meredith Watson led the Wildcats with four kills. Junior JoEllen Poncelet had three kills.

Junior Mikayla Miller had three kills as well, playing limited minutes while dealing with a knee injury. Kimball said he didn’t want to put Miller in the match if it wasn’t close but the Miller helped key Goodhue in the second set.

“No point putting her in,” Kimball said. “We’ve been fortunate over the years not having to deal with injuries. … I wanted to keep her in.”

Cannon Falls came out hot in the first set, garnering a 10-point lead at 16-6 with the Wildcats showed little rhythm attacking. In the second set, the Bombers jumped out to an early 5-2 lead, but Goodhue responded to grab a 10-8 lead before a Cannon Falls timeout. The teams traded points for the rest of the set until the Bombers, with help from Franklin’s big kill, used a 4-0 run at 21-21 to take a two-set lead.

“They have been that team that’s good at coming back,” Huseth said. “I told them during the timeout, ‘Girls you have to stop allowing team to come back on you.’ It took a lot of character and confidence to come back and not allow any more points.”

The win appeared to sap energy from the Wildcats, who showed little resistance in the third set while committing four service errors and allowing Cannon Falls to end the match on a 13-3 run.

Despite the loss, Kimball said he was more optimistic than Goodhue’s first match of the season against Kenyon-Wanamingo.

“I felt like we improved tons from Tuesday,” he said. “I feel so much better walking away.”

The ending deficit might have been larger if the Bombers cut down unforced errors. Franklin committed eight, often sending the ball long because she was too quick to the kill, Huseth said. But Cannon Falls’ depth shined as junior Carly Broze tallied six kills, junior Anna Nelson provided four aces and 19 service points, junior Lydia Franken finished with 13 set assists, and ninth-grader Hailey Huseth notched three kills, 11 set assists, one block and three aces.

“I hope we can continue to play as well as we have been,” Melissa Huseth said.

The Wildcats play Saturday in the Hayfield tournament and the Bombers host second-ranked Stewartville on Tuesday.

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