East Ridge dominated Tartan in convincing fashion three weeks ago in their regular-season match. The Raptors swept the contest, never allowing the Titans to score more than 17 set points.
What a difference a few weeks can make.
Tartan faced East Ridge in the Class 3A, Section 4 quarterfinals Thursday and the fifth-seeded Titans put up a bigger fight this time, testing the resolve of the fourth-seeded Raptors.
East Ridge, however, responded to the challenge and defeated Tartan 25-23, 25-19, 25-23 to advance to the section semifinals.
The Raptors were down 9-4 in the first set, but stormed back to win behind the play of senior outside hitter Claire Whitman.
“It took a little while to get going, which unfortunately has been the case lately,” Whitman said. “Once we got going and told ourselves that we have to start playing, we were focused and started to play a lot better.”
Whitman led East Ridge with eight kills in the match.
The Raptors cruised in the second set and carried that momentum over to the third, building a commanding 18-9 lead before the Titans scored 13 of the next 15 points for a 22-20 advantage.
“I think we kind of let down a bit, but you could see some of their players just rally their whole team,” Raptors’ coach Erin Nickleby said. “There is something to say when you are close to having your season end, but we showed some resolve and didn’t let down over it.”
East Ridge rallied to score the next three points and the teams traded points until the Raptors closed out the set with a point off a long rally. (Check out the video to see the rally)
“It was big for us to win and big to win in the first (set) to have the lead and not be down,” Whitman said. “That gave us a lot of confidence heading into the second.”
More importantly for the Raptors, they finished off Tartan in the third set and avoided playing a fourth.
“This is the time of the year where you spend a lot of energy,” Nickleby said. “These can be exhausting matches, so if you can sweep a team now, it is that much more important.”
East Ridge needs to be energized for its next match as the Raptors face top-seeded North St. Paul in the section semifinals on Tuesday at North St. Paul High School.
“We will be ready,” Whitman said.
