On Sept. 1, the Upsala Cardinals volleyball team played their season-opener at home against the Holdingford Huskers. All eyes were on Upsala to see how this year’s team compared to last year’s Prairie Conference championship squad.

Holdingford was coming off a big win in their season-opener against the Foley Falcons where they defeated them 3-0.

The two teams were able to get a look at each other in the preseason when they played in the scrimmage at LPGE a week earlier.

Although the Cardinals were the heavy favorites in this matchup, the Huskers had them on their back foot for much of the match. In the first game, the score was very close with each team trading points. A late timeout by head coach Ken Solarz helped the Cardinals regain focus and take game one 25-23.

In game 2, the Cardinals maintained their momentum from game one’s finish and were able to dominate the net and make some very nice plays to overcome the Huskers 25-12.

In game 3, the Huskers were able to bounce back and again played right with the Cardinals. But much like the first game, the Cardinals were able to regain focus and comeback to win the game 25-22 and match 3-0.

Reigning Prairie Conference Most Valuable Player Aimee Pelzer led the Cardinals on the night with nine kills, nine digs, and went 15-for-15 serving on the night. Junior Makenna Peterson had an excellent night finishing with seven kills, eight digs, and also went 19-for-19 serving.

As a team, the Cardinals finished 97 percent on serving. “We did very well serving, but our blocking can be much more dominating,” Solarz said. “I’m satisfied with our first game but we still have plenty to work on.”

The Cardinals will return to the court Thursday when they host Browerville for their first conference match of the season.

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