By Sean Solheim
Murray County News Sports
Though the playoffs don’t begin for another week, the Rebels got a taste of what a playoff environment would be like when they squared off with the Heron Lake-Okabena Wildcats. The back and forth match needed to go all five sets to determine the winner where the Rebels rallied to take the win.
The Rebels battled hard through the first set but the Wildcats went up 1-0 in the match with a 25-23 close win. That loss sparked something for the Rebels as they bounced back nicely in the second set. MCC went up 7-0 right away in the second set and seemed in control early on. However, the Wildcats made a comeback to eventually bring the score within one point of the Rebels, 11-10. Despite the comeback by the Wildcats, the Rebels maintained the lead through the middle of the set and eventually built up the lead like they had early on. In the end, the Rebels tied the match at one set per side with a comfortable 25-19 victory.
Just as quickly as the Rebels gained momentum in the second set, they seemed to have lost that momentum late in the third set. Both teams started out the third set going back and forth in scoring before a small run gave the Wildcats some comfort with an 11-6 lead. The Rebels got a point back that snapped the run, but the Wildcats used the momentum they gained to increase their lead, going up by as much as 11 points at one point with a big 21-10 lead over MCC. The Rebels called a timeout shortly after, and though that helped slow down the Wildcat attack, the Wildcats had enough of a lead to eventually shut the door and win the third set, 25-15.
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