The BOLD Warriors kicked off the 2026 season with a 3-1 loss to the MACCRAY Wolverines last Thursday evening in Clara City.
The Warriors have their sights set on another successful campaign under Coach Brian Kingery, and started out strong out of the gate leading the majority of the way during the opening set.
BOLD opened the contest with a 7-3 lead in the first set, but the Wolverines did just enough to hang around early on.
MACCRAY kept the Warriors within striking distance getting as close as 10-9 before BOLD went on a four point rally to extend their advantage to 14-9.
The Wolverines stopped the bleed at 14-10 before BOLD racked up a pair of points to make it 16-10.
The Wolverines and Warriors exchanged points to make it 17-11 before MACCRAY scored three consecutive points to get closer at 17-14.
Following another BOLD score, the Wolverines hit their rhythm, scoring six consecutive points to take their first lead of the set at 20-18.
The Warriors recovered with three straight points, to reclaim the lead at 21-20, but MACCRAY stole back the moment scoring five of the next six points to take the opening set 25-21.
The Wolverines led wire to wire in set number two, taking the match 25-17 to go up two sets to zero, before the Warriors earned an extra set, 26-24 win, to make it two sets to one.
MACCRAY regained control of the pace, and outlasted the Warriors 25-19 in set number four to cement the 3-1 set win.
BOLD new libero Elin Elfering recorded an impressive 30 digs in the loss, while sophomore Ema Flann and junior Kyleigh Snow added 20 and 15 digs respectively.
Senior Kenley Elfering and junior Lilly Henriksen led the Warriors with 14 kills a piece, while Kaitlyn Flann added three kills of her own.
Kenley Elfering added 11 sets, and a team-high three blocks for the Warriors, while Snow led BOLD with 22 set assists.
Senior Lucy Remer added two blocks of her own, while Abby King added a block of her own. Henriksen and Snow each added a serving ace on the night.
The loss started the Warriors schedule on the wrong foot at (0-1), but the talented BOLD group will look to bounce back when they travel to Morris Thursday to take on the Morris Area Tigers. BOLD will return home for a matchup against the Sauk Centre Mainstreeters Sept. 8 in Bird Island.
BOLD Volleyball
Aug. 27
BOLD 1, MACCRAY 3
BOLD 21 17 26 18
MACCRAY 25 25 24 25
BOLD Stats:
Serving Aces: Lilly Henriksen 1, Kyleigh Snow 1. Kills: Kenley Elfering 14, Lilly Henriksen 14, Kaitlyn Flann 3. Set Assists: Kyleigh Snow 22, Kenley Elfering 11. Block Aces: Kenley Elfering 3, Lucy Remer 2, Abby King 1. Digs: Elin Elfering 30, Ema Flann 20, Kyleigh Snow 15.