Scarlets streak continues over strong Charlo

Jenna Cederberg, Leader Staff

Scarlets streak continues over strong Charlo

Jenna Cederberg

Leader Staff

Arlee moved to 14-0 with the convincing 3-0 win Tuesday over Charlo.

The Vikings traveled Tuesday to Arlee for one of the most anticipated match ups of fellow conference-topping area teams. Charlo had only lost one game before falling to the Scarlets.

Viking junior setter Stephanie Maughan brought the Vikings out to an early 5-0 lead in game one, with serving that remained strong all night. Maughan's quickness on the floor helped the team keep firing back at the Scarlets, who - in turn - kept steady the entire night.

The go-to player of the season, Arlee junior hitter Jordan Pfau, was again a force that couldn't be stopped. Arlee brought themselves back from the early game-one deficit to win 25-23 after a huge dunk from Arlee senior hitter Kayla Thomas.

No team has been able to defend Pfau's double-armed attack, and she's been averaging more than 15 kills per match. She led the team to an easy 25-19 victory in game two.

"We started off kind of star struck," Pfau said. "We just weren't focused. But once we got a few good kills and blocks, it got the team's adrenaline up."

The Scarlets led the entire game two, completely stealing any momentum the Vikings built in game one.

Charlo did have a tough time covering the court later in the match, and couldn't get the offense set up for kills; this kept the ball away from Maughan, who is most effective when she can get the second hit off to junior hitter Stephanie Murphy.

Maughan had 14 digs and 24 assists. Murphy had a team-leading 16 kills.

"We were doing really good and it just kind of fell apart," Maughan said. "They played better than us today. But I think we can beat them."

In the do-or-die game three, the Vikings matched Arlee's points until it was 18-18. Then Thomas and Pfau turned up the power again and sealed the 25-20 game three win.

"It's so cool. It surprised us to be our hardest competitor and we won in three games," Thomas said.

Arlee will round out regular season play on Saturday, when it hosts Superior. Charlo (12-2) will finish with a match against Victor in Victor.