Pequot Lakes won the opening game 25-22, the Bears won the second game 25-12, and the Patriots took the third contest 25-21. Eveleth-Gilbert then won the fourth game 25-20, before the Patriots put the match away with a close 20-18 victory.

Patriots' coach Sandy Tautges started a young and inexperienced lineup of freshman Kayla Miller; sophomores Nicole Traut, Sabrina Aldin, Abby Palmer, Emma Clement and senior Sam Allen. One of the few veteran players, letterwinner Rachel Mott, suffered a severely sprained ankle in practice.

"Being we're such a young team, they could have folded, but these girls didn't," Tautges said. "They came out and really played well and won the first game 25-22. But we were a little flat in the second one. We really battled after that, and were able to go home with a big confidence building win."

In the first game, the Patriots trailed 10-8 when Allen got a block to make it a one-point game. Clement served four points for a 13-10 lead. The Patriots never trailed after that and they went on to win by three.

The Golden Bears jumped to a 7-1 lead in the second game, and eventually led 10-3, 17-7, 20-9 and 24-10 before they ended it with a kill. The Patriots trailed 15-10 in the third game when Miller's block got the ball back for girls sending Sydney Dotty to the service line where she served nine straight points for a 20-15 Patriots' lead. The Bears did get to within two at 23-21, but a kill by setter Aldin and one by Allen gave the Patriots a win.

Game four was a nail-biter from the start, and neither team led by more than three points after the Patriots went ahead 12-9. It was tied six times, the last time at 20. Eveleth-Gilbert then got the final five points for the win.

The fifth and deciding game was close as it was tied 10 times, and the lead changed seven times before the Patriots won.

Aldin, in her debut as a starting setter, had 32 set assists, five kills and 10 digs. Other Pequot Lakes leaders included: Palmer with 16 kills, 22 digs, and four blocks; Clement, three set assists and 32 digs; Miller 10 kills, three digs, three ace serves and 10 blocks; Traut, five kills and 12 digs; Allen, seven kills and three blocks; Dotty, 13 digs; and Mandy Carlson, two kills.

"It was nice to start out the season with a win on the road, and without one our better players out on injury," said Tautges, "but all the girls stepped it up a notch and played well without Rachel (Mott).

'And although most of them are real young, they've played a lot of volleyball and they love the game."

Patriot notes:

With junior varsity coach Mike Bajczyk unavailable due to a work commitment, c-squad coach Sam Boyer coached the Patriots. The c-squad beat the Golden Bears 25-13 and 25-12, and the junior varsity team came away with 25-18 and 25-5 wins.

Boyer, who has coached a lot of the Patriots in the Central Lakes College league during the summer, said, "Both the C-team and the JV team played well and all the girls did nice jobs."

After playing at Brainerd on Tuesday, Aug. 31, the Patriots were scheduled to host Mid-State Conference rival Crosby-Ironton on Thursday, Sept. 9. The Patriots were scheduled to be at Pillager on Thursday, Sept. 2, but the match was re-scheduled for 4 p.m. on Sept. 24.