The Yorktown Kitty Kats came out strong but couldn’t finish late rallies, falling to the St. Paul Cardinals in three sets Tuesday night, Sept. 2, at home, 21-25, 19-25, 14-25.
In set one, Yorktown erased an early deficit behind Palyn Koopman’s serving run, which included two aces to push the Kats ahead 8-7. At the net, Carly Weischwill and Claire Person added key blocks, and the Kats built an 18-14 lead. However, the Cardinals regrouped, capitalizing on Yorktown miscues to close the set on a late run and take it 25-21.
The second set was dominated early by Yorktown. Person recorded a block for a 5-2 lead, followed by an ace from Gracie Stehling to make it 6-2. Avery Martin and Person sparked a long rally that put the Kats ahead 14-9. But the Cardinals stormed back with a run of their own, tying the score at 14-14. Martin responded with a kill to briefly restore the lead, and a crisp sequence of a Martin pass, Carsyn Brown set, and Person kill extended Yorktown’s drive. Still, St. Paul proved too much down the stretch, closing out the set 25-19.
The third set belonged to the Cardinals, who jumped out to an early lead and carried the momentum. Yorktown showed fight midway through with a roll shot by Koopman, followed by an ace from Haylee Russell and a block from Weischwill to cut into the deficit, 8-18. The Kats made a late push, but it was too little too late as St. Paul secured the set 25-14 and the match sweep The Kitty Kats will be back in action this weekend as they travel to Ganado to close out their tournament play for the year.
Carly Weischwill and Claire Person double block. Photo by Deirdre Alexander
