Cowgirls Defeat MonDak

After a slow start, the Culbertson Cowgirls bounced back to down MonDak, 12-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-18, in conference volleyball action on Monday, Oct. 19.

The victory came on Senior Night as Culbertson honored seniors Anissa Bengochea, McKinsey Justice, Cody Larsen and Kylie Portra.

“I think they were nervous from Senior Night,” Culbertson Coach Tiffany Nielsen said of her team’s poor first set.

She was glad that the Cowgirls began swinging better as the match went on.

“We’ve really been working on not hanging our heads,” Nielsen said. “We still have some slumps, but we did a better job of getting our heads back into the game.”

The Cowgirls trailed by a 12-8 margin in the second set until the hitting of Portra and freshman Destiny Thompson cut the gap to 13-12. A kill by Makena Hauge and an ace by Justice tied the score at 15-15.

Culbertson then moved ahead on a kill by Portra, an ace by Justice and a kill by Hauge.

Kills by Thompson and Larsen put the Cowgirls ahead by a 23-21 margin. Culbertson scored the last two points including one on an ace by Hauge.

In the third set, the Cowgirls trailed by a 16-11 margin but slowly battled back. An ace by Justice tied the score at 18-18.

Ahead 21-19, Culbertson accounted for the last four points of the set on a kill by Hauge, a kill Thompson, a kill by Larsen and a serve by Bengochea.

The serving of Kenadee Kempton and Hauge led Culbertson to a 14-9 lead in the fourth set.

A tip and ace by Larsen increased Culbertson’s advantage to 16-10.

With the margin at 22-16, Kempton served two aces for a 24-16 advantage.

MonDak fought back with a kill by Brynn Folvag and an ace by Angelina Garcia, but Culbertson scored the final point on a kill by Larsen.

The Cowgirls will host Nashua on Saturday, Oct. 24.