Special Report: 5AAA Osseo/Blaine

#8 posting 11.1.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SECTION 5AAA
championship
OSSEO orioles 3, BLAINE bengals 1

I did not attend this contest, but here is the report---

#2 seed Osseo upset #1 seed Blaine (and #8 in the coaches poll) in four. The Bengals beat the Orioles during the season in a sweep. Osseo took sets one, two and four. Blaine won the third 25-23. Osseo won the fourth 25-23. Blaine led 21-20 when Osseo took a time out in set four. The Orioles finished with a 5-2 run. The final point came on a tip kill by Rachel Wiinanen. Karen Hiltunen had 9 kills to lead the Orioles and Rachel Pekarek had 19 digs. This is the first time Osseo has been to the state tournament since 2001. Blaine had been to the state tournament the past two seasons.

Next up: Tomorrow

Playoff Out & About: 5AAA Blaine/Spring Lake Park

#6 posting 10.29.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

5AAA PLAYOFFS
Semifinals
BLAINE bengals 3, SPRING LAKE PARK panthers 0
(25-12, 25-17, 25-10)

#1 seed Blaine dispatched #5 seed Spring Lake Park with a margin of 36 points. In almost any category the Bengals had an advantage. Blaine took the run category 12-3. The Bengals led at all key break points. SLP only led 1-0 and 2-1 early in the first set. Two Bengals had double digit kills---Ari Mewhorter and Brittney Barren. Blaine has won the section two straight years in a row.

This was a sandwich match with Blaine dominating in the opening and closing sets, with SLP competitive in the second frame. After the first three balls SLP led 2-1. That was their high water mark. Runs were the name of the game with Blaine picking up four in the first set. Blaine led 8-3 when SLP took their first time out. The final run came on Barren's serve at 17-7. It didn't stop Barren. She added five more points, with three straight aces to go along with the one before the time out to put up 9 points in the first stanza. Blaine led 24-8 when SLP had their only run in the first set. However two of the points were on Blaine hitting errors. Tracie Gillund ended the first set with a kill.

Blaine led 8-7 when the Bengals put together an 8-2 run to lead 16-9. A Panther time out in that sequence eventually turned the tide back with a 6-1 SLP run. That forced the only time out by Blaine with the score 17-15 Blaine. After the time out Mehworter knocked down two straight kills and everything was right in the Blaine universe. Blaine outscored SLP 8-2 to finish the second set. Mewhorter had 8 kills in this stanza.

This set took on characteristics of the first. Blaine had nine straight FBSO preventing any points on SLP serves. Blaine was spreading the ball around a little more than in the first contests I watched. Again Barren rocketed some serves forcing a SLP time out at 9-4. Barren put four more on the board to make it 12-4. SLP only earned two points the final frame. The night closed with five points off Mewhorter's serve.

Blaine will face Osseo on Saturday at Coon Rapids for the right to go to state.


you can see the entire Blaine vs Spring Lake Park photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
BLAINE
1. Mackenzie Suda, 2009, S 0-0-2----2
2. Ashley Kvistberg, 2009, OH 1-0-7----8
3. Amber Marciniak, 2009, L 0-0-0----0
3fr: Tracie Gillund, 2009, MH 0-2-6----8
4. Kelli Elhardt, 2010, RH 0-0-3----3
4br: Reiley Dahlberg, 2009, DS 0-0-0----0
5. Arriel Mewhorter, 2009, 3-0-13----16
6. Brittney Barren, 6-4-10----20
totals: 10-4-41----55 points, 20 points on SLP errors

SPRING LAKE PARK
1. Melissa Backes, 2010, OH 0-0-2----2
2. Marissa Evans, 2010, S 0-0-1----1
3. Stephanie Wurzer, 2010, MH 1-0-2----3
4. Melissa Widman, 2010, OH 0-0-3----3
5. Natalee Yeazle, 2009, RH 0-1-7----8
6. Alyssa Luedtke, 2010, L 0-0-0----0
6fr. Jenna Lee, 2010, MH 0-0-0----0
6fr: Katie Norlien, 2009, MH 0-0-0----0
totals: 1-1-15----17 points, 22 points on Blaine errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Brittney Barren--solid at the serving line, with the blocking game and putting down kills.

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Blaine 21/29-.724; 75; .733; .564
Spring Lake Park 11/29-.379; 39; .436 .513
Runs 3+: Blaine 12, SLP 3
Longest string: Blaine 7, SLP 4
Missed Serves: SLP 4, Blaine 3
Time Out %: Blaine 1/1-1.000; SLP 1/5-.200

ROTATIONS
BLAINE
1. Suda 8-8 .500
2. Kvistberg 16-7 .696
3. Marciniak 11-9 .550
4. Elhardt 9-6 .600
5. Mewhorter 13-5 .722
6. Barren 18-4 .818
totals: 75-39 .659

SPRING LAKE PARK
1. Backes 7-14 .333
2. Evans 10-11 .476
3. Wurzer 8-13 .381
4. Widman 6-11 .353
5. Yeazle 4-15 .211
6. Luedkte 4-11 .267
totals: 39-75 .342

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 B B B B B
set 2 B B B B B
set 3 B B B B B

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Blaine 16 8 15
SLP 1 0 0

next up: tomorrow morning

Out & About: Jordan/Blaine

#5 posting 10.3.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

TODD BACHMAN TOURNAMENT
LAKEVILLE NORTH first round
JORDAN jaguars 2, BLAINE bengals 0
(25-23, 25-18)

The #2AA Jordan Jaguars beat the bigger #8AAA Blaine Bengals in two sets. Jordan overcame a slow start in set one. Jordan took a time out at 6-3 trying to breathe life into their game. Blaine held a 15-9 advantage when Jordan went on a five point run, four off of Brittany Chambers serve. Chambers had three kills in that run. Jordan didn't take the lead until Leah Dietel's serve when the Jags were in the midst of a four point run. Jordan led 21-19 before an Ari Mewhorter side out kill for Blaine. Blaine had to use their second time out after Jordan led 23-21. The Bengals did tie it at 23 after that, but Chambers rose to the challenge with her 10th kill of the set to give the ball back. A Blaine hitting error finished off set one.

8 straight side outs started out set two. Blaine again took a lead, winning the race to 10. The Bengals biggest lead came at 13-10. That is when the Jordan went on an 8-1 run and they didn't look back. Blaine missed on three of their last four serves. Also Jordan closed with five straight side outs. Jordan led 21-17 when a three point run put them on the verge. Blaine sided out once more on a block, but the serving problem reared it's head again.

Brittany Chambers had 19 points for the Jaguars. Ari Mewhorter led Blaine with 9 points.

You can see the entire Jordan vs Blaine photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com.

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
JORDAN
1. Brittany Chambers, 2009 H 0-0-19----19
2. Ashley Hartman, 2010, MH 0-0-0-----0
2br: Courtni Stever, 2009, DS 0-0-0-----0
3. Kelsey Chambers, 2012, RH 1-0-4----5
3br: Hannah Trosen, 2009, DS 0-0-0----0
4. Leah Dietel, 2009, MH 0-0-4-----4
5. Michelle O'Malley, 2009, OH 0-0-0----0
5. Marsha Wolf, 2009, OH 0-0-0-----0
6. Emilee Gutzmer, 2012, S 0-0-1-----1
totals: 1-0-28-----29 points, 21 points on Blaine errors

BLAINE
1. Mackenzie Suda, 2009, S 0-0-0----0
2. Ashley Kvistberg, 2009, OH 1-0-3----4
3. Amber Marciniak, 2009, L 1-0-0-----1
3fr: Tracie Gillund, 2009, MH 0-0-1----1
4. Kelli Elhardt, 2010, S 0-1-4----5
5. Ari Mewhorter, 2009, OH 0-0-9----9
6. Brittney Barren, 2010, MH 1-0-5----6
6br: Amber Marciniak
totals: 3-1-22-----26 points, 15 points on Jordan errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Brittany Chambers

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Jordan 17/27-.629; 50; .560; .366
Blaine 16/27-.593; 41; .634; .440
Runs 3+: Jordan 5, Blaine 3
Longest string: Jordan 5, Blaine 5
Missed Serves: Jordan 4, Blaine 4
Time Out %: Blaine 3/4-.750; Jordan 1/2-.500

ROTATIONS
JORDAN
1. Gutzmer 6-5 .545
2. B Chambers 10-6 .625
3. Hartman 7-8 .467
4. K Chambers 7-9 .438
5. Dietel 11-6 .647
6. O'Malley 8-5 .615
totals: 50-41 .549

BLAINE
1. Suda 5-9 .357
2. Kvistberg 10-5 .667
3. Marciniak 7-11 .389
4. Elhardt 9-8 .529
5. Mewhorter 5-9 .357
6. Barren 5-8 .385
totals: 41-50 .451

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 B B B J J
set 2 J B J J J

BIGGEST LEAD
Team: 1 2
Jordan 2 7
Blaine 6 3

Next up: Hibbing vs Wayzata

Out & About: Blaine/Totino-Grace

#6 posting 9.27.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BLAINE TOURNAMENT
pool a
BLAINE bengals 2, TOTINO-GRACE eagles 0
(25-13, 25-9)

The Blaine Bengals opened up their tournament with a convincing sweep of section rival Totino-Grace. Blaine never trailed in either game. The Bengals earned 37 points on the day while TG only scraped together 7 earned points.
The Bengals blew the first set open when Amber Marciniak, the second Blaine server ran off nine straight points. Ari Mewhorter had a hand in seven of those points and scored 10 of the 12 in Blaine's 12-1 run. The Bengals led 21-6 in the first set when TG had their biggest run of the day with five straight. Blaine eventually finished off the Eagles 25-13.
The second set was much like the first with the Bengals generating multiple points on almost every serve. The Bengals were up 9-2 quickly.
For the day Ari Mewhorter had 17.5 points.

You can see the entire Blaine vs Totino-Grace photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com.

I will back fill the stats later.

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills---totals
BLAINE
1. Mackenzie Suda (2009) S 2-0-1----3
2. Ashley Kvistberg (2009) OH 0-0-4---4
2br: Reiley Dahlberg (2009) OH 0-0-0----0
3. Amber Marciniak (2009) L 0-0-0----0
3fr: Tracie Gillund (2009) MH 0-1-3----4
4. Kelli Elhardt (2010) S 0-0.5-1---1.5
4fr: Katie Haas (2009) RH 0-0-0----0
5. Ari Mewhorter (2009) OH 1-1.5-15----17.5
6. Brittney Barren (2010) MH 3-1-3----7
totals: 6-4-27----37 points, 13 points on TG errors

TOTINO-GRACE
1. Alexis Ascher (2010) S 0-0-0----0
1fr: Jenna Johnson (2010) RH 0-0-0----0
2. Lisa Beacher (2009) OH 0-0-0---0
3. Lizzi Naumann (2009) MB 0-2-1---3
4. Cassie Higgins (2010) S 0-0-0---0
4fr: Simone Harney (2010) RH 0-0-1---1
5. Ashley Dahly (2012) OH 0-0-0---0
6. Mary Sweet (2009) L 2-0-0----2
6fr. Karissa Peterson (2010) MB 0-0-0---0
totals: 2-2-3---7 points, 15 points on Blaine Errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Ari Mewhorter

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Blaine 11/15 .733; 50; .740; .682
Totino-Grace 3/15 .200; .318; .260
Runs 3+: Blaine 7, TG 2
Longest string: Blaine 10, TG 5
Missed Serves: Blaine 3, TG 2
Time Out %: TG 1/3--.333; Blaine had no time outs.

ROTATIONS
BLAINE
1. Suda 10-5 .667
2. Kvistberg/Dahlberg 9-3 .750
3. Marciniak 14-2 .875
4. Elhardt 3-2 .600
5. Mewhorter 6-4
6. Barren 8-6
totals: 50-22 .694

TOTINO-GRACE
1. Ascher 5-10 .333
2. Beacher 2-15 .118
3. Naumann 2-3 .400
4. Higgins/Neeb 2-6 .250
5. Dahly 4-8 .333
6. Sweet 7-8 .467
totals: 22-50 .306

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
Set 1 B B B B B
Set 2 B B B B B

BIGGEST LEAD
Team: 1 2
Blaine 15 16
Totino-Grace 0 0
Next up: Minnetonka vs St. Francis

Out & About: Blaine/Osseo

#6 posting 10.31.2007
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

5AAA SEMIFINALS
BLAINE bengals 3, OSSEO orioles 0
(25-23, 25-14, 25-15)

Blaine broke free from a tight contest with Osseo with a 11-1 run in game two led by future Gopher Jessica Granquist's five kills in the stretch. Granquist had 15 kills on the night. Both Granquist and Kreklow had 17 total points on the night.

An extremely competitive game one saw Blaine break free from a 20 all tie with a run of three. First Tracie Gillund had a kill, followed by a block by Granquist and an ace by Kreklow. Osseo tried to stem the tied with time outs at 22-20 and 23-20 and did get the side out after the ace. It looked like the game was headed to extra points as Osseo rallied for two points on a Blaine hitting error, and then an ace by Brianna Olson, but her next serve was narrowly wide and game one went to the Bengals 25-23.

Blaine didn't wait until 20 all to start accelerating in game two. The broke free from an 11 all tie. First they got the ball back on a Kreklow side out kill. Kreklow then served up four points for a 16-11 lead forcing Osseo to use a time out. The Blaine first ball side out game was cooking as they closed out with six straight FBSO. Unable to generate any points off their own serve, Osseo had a tough time. The Libero #31 (not in the program) served up five straight to make it 22-12----a 11-1 run. Granquist had four straight kills from points 19-22. Game two ended on Brittney Barren's kill.

That loss seemed to take the spirit out of Osseo and rev up Blaine's motor. The Bengals opened with a 9-0 run and led 13-3 after three Oriole servers. Kreklow was the first Blaine server and tallied four aces in her 8 point serving run. Osseo did manage to get some points off of Rachel Wiinanen's serve to close to 14-8, but and overpass kill by Barren ended the run. Again Blaine slammed the door with their fbso game closing with four straight. On the night Blaine was at .694 in fbso%. The Bengals next task is to take on the hot and upset minded Maple Grove Crimson on Saturday at Irondale.

photos: #1 Jessica Granquist going up for an off speed hit. #2. Granquist and Tracie Gillund go up to block Casey Carroll. #3. Lindsay Sathre goes up for a hit with Mackenzie Suda and Brittney Barren attempting to close the block. photos by kja

BLAINE
rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills----total points
1 Ashley Kvistberg, OH 0-0-4----4
1 Katie Haas, DS 0-0-0----0
2 Molly Kreklow, MH/S 6-2-9----17
3 #31 1-0-0-----1
3 Tracie Gillund, MH 0-1.5-7---8.5
4 Jessica Granquist, OH 1-1-15----17
5 Mackenzie Suda, S 0-0.5-1---1.5
6 Brittney Barren, MH 0-0-9----9
totals: 8-5-45-----58 points, 17 points on Osseo errors

OSSEO
1 Amanda Hoefling, S 0-0-0----0
1 Abby Rolf, RH 0-0-4----4
2 Rachel Pekarek, OH 0-0-4-----4
3 Brianna Olson, L 1-0-0----1
3 Tiara Russell, MH 0-0-5----5
4 Lauren Everett, S 0-0-0----0
4fr Casey Carroll, RH 0-1-1----2
5 Rachel Wiinanen, OH 1-0-1----2
5 Karen Hiltunen, OH 0-0-4----4
6 Lindsay Sathre, MH 0-1-7----8
totals: 2-2-26----30 points, 22 points on Blaine errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Extremely tough call. Today Molly Kreklow gets the edge by a whisker.

BY THE NUMBERS
Blaine 25/36, .694; 75; .773; .423
Osseo 16/36, .444, 52; .577; .227
3+ runs: Blaine 7, Osseo 5
missed serves: Blaine 5, Osseo 2

ROTATIONS
BLAINE
1. Ashley Kvistberg 8-6 .571
2 Molly Kreklow 25-10 .714
3 #31 17-9 .654
4 Jessica Granquist 9-13 .409
5 Mackenzie Suda 8-9 .471
6 Brittany Barren 8-5 .615
totals: 75-52 .591

OSSEO
1 Amanda Hoefling 8-20 .286
2 Rachel Pekarek 8-15 .348
3 Brianna Olson 10-15 .400
4 Lauren Everett 11-8 .579
5 Rachel Wiinanen 10-10 .500
6 Lindsay Sathre 5-7 .417
totals: 52-75 .409

next up: tomorrow morning

Out & About: Andover/Blaine

#3 posting 9.13.2007
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

ANDOVER huskies 3, BLAINE bengals 0
(25-23, 26-24, 25-14)

In a battle of top 10 AAA teams, Andover beat NW Suburban rival Blaine at home in a sweep at home. It was a revenge match from last year's five game section 7AAA final. This year the two teams are in different sections with Blaine in 5, and Andover in 7. Andover's Megan Carlson had 18 kills and Lauren Cipperly added 11. Blaine's Jessica Granquist had 11 kills also. Carlson is headed to Marshall, a D1 program. Granquist will be a Gopher next season.

First off a word about the crowd. Both sides were pulled down with student sections that were standing, packed all night. It was the rowdiest crowd I have seen so far this year. Most of the time the matches I see are rather quiet. The cheers were going back and forth with there "you can't do that" followed by the claps; and other, sometimes questionable, cheers. The announcer had to mention to cheer for a team, not against an individual.

In game one, Lauren Cipperly got Andover to a quick 4-0 lead with a pair of kills by Megan Carlson and a pair of aces. The Huskies kept building on their lead with a 11-6 lead during Carlson's serve. This time Cipperly chipped in two kills in a three point service run. There was one stretch of the game where both teams traded four straight missed serves, three deep. Blaine did put together a 13-5 run with Granquist serving up three straight points to make it 19-16. That prompted an Andover time out. A double contact gave the ball back to Andover. The next six points came on errors on both teams. A tip kill by Blaine's Molly Kreklow put the Bengals on the verge at 23-21. Another Andover time worked with Megan Keller putting up a block. Cipperly bookended the first game with three straight points. Blaine tried to stop the momentum at 24-23, but after the time out Cipperly finished the first game with her second straight ace.

Blaine held the advantage in game two early. On Granquist's serve Blaine led 10-4 with Ashley Kvistberg putting down two straight kills. Andover started their comeback at this point. A huge part of the rally was the fact that the first ball side out game of Andover was humming. The Huskies had 10 straight side outs to climb back into the contest. Carlson, in this stretch gave Andover their first lead at 17-16 with two straight jump serve aces which forced Blaine to burn a time out. Cipperly, three rotations later, put Andover up 22-19 with her fifth ace of the night again forcing Blaine to stop to talk about it. Cipperly missed on her serve wide and that opened the door for the Bengals. Carlson had a side out kill, but Granquist returned the favor. The game was knotted up at 24 all after a Kvistberg kill on Granquist's serve, but Carlson stopped that with a side out kill, and then finished the second game with her third ace of the game.

In the third game Andover slammed the door on Blaine's serve game with 12 straight FBSO. Blaine didn't help their cause with three missed serves. Andover was able to squeeze one point out of Carlson's serve, but they too were having a hard time generating anything. Soon Andover was getting one point off their serves and when it came back to Carlson again she notched two more service points on Blaine errors to make it 14-9. Blaine took a time out at 13-9. A missed serve gave the ball back to the Bengals. Cipperly put down a kill and then the points, which were so hard to come by for both teams, opened up. On Shannyn Rosendahl's serve Andover added six points to make it 21-10. Cipperly had three points, but the last four points in the seven point run were all Blaine errors. Again Blaine was forced to take a time out at 20-10. Finally on Kreklow's serve Blaine got a point off her serve, the only time in game three. Carlson ended the night with two straight kills, one on the side out, and then on Amy Howard's serve.

photos: #1 Megan Carlson goes down the line for a kill in game #2; #2 Ashley Kvistberg of Blaine goes up for an attack with Andover's Megan Keller (#13) and Jenna McNallen (#9) up for the block. photos by kja

ANDOVER
1 Lauren Cipperly, OH 4-1-11----16
2 Megan Keller, MH 1-1-0----2
2 Kayla Evans, server 0-0-0---0
2 Amy Howard, server 0-0-0----0
2br Shannon Rosendahl, L 0-0-0---0
3 Nicole Husfeld, S 0-0-1----1
4 Megan Carlson, OH 3-0-18---21
5 Shannyn Rosendahl, L 0-0-0----0
5fr Alex Nelson, MH 0-2-4----6
6 Amy Kurtovich, DS 0-0-0----0
Jenna McNallen, RH 0-0-2----2
totals: 8-4-36----48 points, 27 points on Blaine errors

BLAINE
1 Ashley Kvistberg, OH 0-0-7----7
1br Amber Marciniak, DS 0-0-0----0
2 Molly Kreklow, MH/S 0-1-8----9
3 Reiley Dahlberg, RH 1-0-1----2
4 Jessica Granquist, OH 0-0-11----11
5 Brittney Barren, MH 1-0-0-----1
5 Tracie Gillund, MH 0-0-0----0
5br Amanda Lom, L 0-0-0----0
6 Mackenzie Suda, S 0-0-1----1
totals: 2-1-28----31 points; 30 points on Andover errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Megan Carlson coiled, ready to strike, good timing.

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Andover 27/41, .659; 76; .632; .492
Blaine 24/42, .571; 61; .508; .355
Runs 3+: Andover 8, Blaine 5
Missed Serves: Andover 14, Blaine 9

ROTATIONS
ANDOVER
1 Cipperly 18-12 .600
2 Evans 13-13 .500
3 Husfeld 8-13 .381
4 Carlson 15-8 .652
5 Rosendahl 14-7 .667
6 Kurtovich 8-8 .500
totals: 76-61 .555

BLAINE
1 Kvistberg/Marciniak 10-17 .371
2 Kreklow 11-14 .440
3 Dahlberg 13-8 .619
4 Granquist 12-16 .429
5 Barren/Gillund 8-14 ,364
6 Suda 7-7 .500
totals: 61-76 .445

next up: tomorrow morning