Playoff Out & About: Shakopee/Chaska

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

SECTION 2AAA
Championship
SHAKOPEE sabers 3, CHASKA hawks 1
(25-21, 25-27, 25-22, 25-21)

In a battle of heavyweights it was defending AAA champ and current #1 team Shakopee stopping Chaska (AAA champ in 2005 and 2006) in four. As fitting a championship match this contest was memorable with both teams taking the best hits and continuing action. Sets lasted 35 minutes. The two met earlier in the year in the Apple Valley tournament with the Sabers winning 2-0. Ashley Wittman had 37 points for the Sabers. Shakopee is probably the odds on favorite to be the number one seed in the upcoming state tournament. The Sabers are 28-2. Chaska finished 24-5.

Again the energy was crackling as the stands were full. Fans were on the edge of their seats in each set. Each set was in doubt with margins two points of less when the score was north of 20. In three of those occasions the Sabers finished with either a 3-1 run or 3-0 run. Chaska held off set point with the Sabers for their only victory in set two. The odd fact in this contest---only two Shakopee rotations scored more than they allowed. Chaska had three rotations above .500. But Shakopee's second rotation---Mollie Geske's serve----racked up 30% of the Shakopee points on the night. The best Chaska rotation provided 21% of their points.

Shakopee broke free from an 8 all tie in the first set with a six point burst. Chaska took a time out trying to stop the momentum at 12-8, but Jean Theis added two kills after the break to make it 14-8. That was to be the Sabers biggest lead of the entire night. Chaska inched back into the contest with the help of the blocking game. Amanda Unze and Chelsie Stahl each had a block to cut the margin to 15-12. Neither team had a big run the rest of the way. Also neither team had a door slamming FBSO game. Chaska did have a string of four straight FBSO, but Shakopee found a way to get points on the next three serves as the race to 25 intensified. Chaska had two self inflicted errors for Saber points 21 and 22 which forced a Hawk time out 22-18. Unze delivered a side out block and then Bekah Saugen added a kill to cut the margin to 22-20. Ashley Wittman put down a kill and then finished the set with a FBSO kill. Wittman had 9 points in the first set. The odd thing was Chaska out "earned" Shakopee 17-15. The six point run, and the two points at 21/22 were key for the Sabers win in set one.

Chaska had strong starts in each of the remaining sets---none better than in set two with a five point run to lead 5-2. Stahl delivered two blocks in the run. Shakopee recovered and pulled ahead 10-9 after a three point run. Chaska had another three point run to take the lead 14-12. The Hawks didn't keep it long with three straight hitting errors. Side outs ruled the next five points. Chaska inched ahead at 18-17 after an overpass kill by Ellen Degler. Shakopee had their third three point run to go ahead 21-19. The Sabers were on the cusp of victory after a Wittman kill gave them a 24-23 lead. On set point the Sabers were in the net. It was Chaska's turn to have set point at 25-24 after a Shakopee time out. Wittman postponed the Hawks celebration to tie it at 25. Chaska got the side out with a Stahl kill. The second set ended on the second set point on Amanda Konetchy's kill.

Shakopee trailed 10-8 when they went on a 7 point run, 6 on Mollie Geske's serve. Wittman had four points in the run which Chaska tried to stop with a time out at 13-10. Chaska had a surge of their own with four straight points to close to 16-15. That forced a Saber time out. Chaska tied the game at 20 on an ace by Konetchy. Shakopee got a kill from Jean Theis for a side out. A Wittman kill forced a Chaska time out. Chaska did get a side out kill from Shelby Peterson to make it 22-21. Again Wittman knocked down two kills to put the Sabers at match point. The Hawks held for one point on a kill by Unze. Wittman again delivered the set ending kill. Again the key factors for the Sabers---a major run of 7 points and Wittman had 10 points.

It was Chaska enjoying their biggest lead of the night at 21-8 when Shakopee took a time out. Two side outs later Mollie Geske stepped to the service line and went to town. Shakopee went off on an 9 point run (including the side out kill by Wittman). That was the back breaker. A four point lead turned into to a five point deficit. Wittman had five of the points in that run. Chaska wasn't done yet. They scrambled back to trail 21-20 after a 5-2 run three kills by Peterson. That prompted a Saber time out. At the time Wittman was in the back row for the second of three cycles. The Sabers got breathing room with a side out kill by Mariah Monnens. Peterson delivered the last Hawk point and then Elizabeth Benusa and Wittman put down kills followed by a Benusa ace to punch their ticket to state. The Sabers have a chance to defend.

In all three Shakopee wins there was a common pattern----one run that went on longer than usual---6 to 9 points---and Wittman unleashed. In the Shakopee loss in the second set the runs were only the garden variety three, not the lengthy ones that made it hard for the Hawks to recover. Also Wittman only had 7 points in the second set compared to 9-10-11 in sets 1, 3, and 4.

you can see the entire Shakopee vs Chaska photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
SHAKOPEE
1. Elizabeth Benusa, 2010, OH 2-0-9------11
2. Mollie Geske, 2010, L 1-0-0------1
2fr: Jean Theis, 2010, MH 0-1-4----5
3. Amelia Yager, 2010, S 0-0-2-----2
3fr: Megan Westlund, 2011, S 0-0-2------2
4. Ashley Wittman, 2010, OH 1-1-35-----37
5. Emily Schroers, 2011, DS 0-0-0------0
5fr: Claire Sames, 2012, MH 0-2-4-----6
6. Mariah Monnens, 2010, RH 1-1-8-----10
totals: 5-5-64------74 points, 26 points on Chaska errors

CHASKA
1. Shelby Peterson, 2010, OH 1-1-10----12
2. Kenzie Niesche, 2009, L 2-0-0------2
2fr: Ellen Degler, 2010, MH 0-1-5-----6
3. Maggie Finkel, 2009, DS 0-0-0-----0
3fr: Amanda Unze, 2009, RH 0-2-9-----11
4. Bekah Saugen, 2010, OH 0-2-6----8
4. Lynn Bielski, 2010, OH 0-0-1------1
5. Megan Kettler, 2010, DS 0-0-0-----0
5fr: Chelsie Stahl, 2011, MH 1-6-13-----20
6. Amanda Konetchy, 2010, S 1-0-2----3
totals: 5-12-46-------63 points, 28 points on Shakopee errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Ashley Wittman 12 FBSO kills, two set point finishes and 11 points in the 4th set.

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Shakopee 32/56-.571; .740; .308
Chaska 33/55--.600; .692; .260
Runs 3+: Shakopee 9, Chaska 9
Longest string: Shakopee 9, Chaska 5
Missed Serves: Chaska 4, Shakopee 2
Time Out %: Shakopee 4/4-1.000; Chaska 3/6-.500

ROTATIONS
SHAKOPEE
1. Benusa 24-20 .545
2. Geske 30-14 .682
3. Yager 12-16 .429
4. Wittman 12-12 .500
5. Schroers 9-13 .409
6. Monnens 13-16 .448
totals: 100-91 .523

CHASKA
1, Peterson 18-25 .419
2. Niesche 19-23 .452
3. Finkel 14-12 .538
4. Saugen 13-12 .520
5. Kettler 13-9 .591
6. Konetchy 14-19 .424
totals: 91-100 .476

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 S S S S S
set 2 C S S S C*
set 3 S C S S S
set 4 C C S S S
*won with extra points

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3 4
Shakopee 6 3 5 5
Chaska 0 3 2 4

Next up: tomorrow morning

Playoff Out & About: Concordia Roseville/Minnehaha

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

SECTION 4AA
Championship
CONCORDIA ROSEVILLE beacons 3, MINNEHAHA redhawks 0
(25-22, 25-13, 25-16)

Concordia Roseville got revenge for a regular season 4 set loss to TriMetro champ Minnehaha with a solid sweep of the host Redhawks. CR was the #2 seed in the East. This is the Beacons 10th trip to State, but the first since 2002. The whole match hinged on the first set. Concordia rallied for the win. After that the Beacons played with confidence and authority. The only time the Redhawks led after that was at 1-0 in the third set.

The Redhawks started off on the right note with four points with Katelyn Adams scoring two of the points on a block and kill. As quickly as MA led they put CR back in the contest with three straight hitting errors. MA went back in front 10-6 their last four point lead of the day. CR had a five point run starting with a missed MA serve followed by two Redhawk errors. CR led 12-11 when MA took their first time out. CR took a time out with MA up 17-16 after a three point run. Sarah Winter had two kills in the run. MA pushed their lead out to 21-19 after Winter's fifth kill of the set. After that CR closed hard with a 6-1 run. CR had two three point runs, both started on missed MA serves. Naomi Walther wrapped up the first set with a block, her 6th point of the first set.

That finished invigorated CR and took the spirit out of the hosts MA. CR raced to a 10-3 lead with two runs in the first three serves. MA took their first time out at 10-3. Lauren Koepke had three of the 10 points for the Beacons. Three of the Beacon points came on blocks. MA couldn't generate any offense off their serve. CR for the set had 11/12 FBSO. MA took their second time out at 19-10, but it didn't slow down the Beacons as they added two more points. CR increased their earned points from 13 to 18 in set two, while MA dropped two to 10.

MA opened the third set with the first point. Then the proverbial roof caved in. After a tip kill by Walther, Jenny Otte served up 10 straight points. MA took a time out at 7-1, but Otte served up four straight aces after the time out. MA was forced to take their second time out then at 11-1. MA did fight back with a four point run to close to 16-8. Three of the points came on CR errors. CR did take a time out at 16-7. The Beacons added to their totals at 21-10 after a run of three. MA had one last five point surge to close to 21-15. The Beacons closed with a 4-1 run to punch their ticket to state.

you can see the entire Concordia Roseville vs Minnehaha photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
CONCORDIA ROSEVILLE
1. Sarah Frehner, 2009, S 2-0-1-----3
1fr: Abby Warner, 2009, RH 0-0-2-----2
2. Jenny Otte, 2009, OH 5-0-5-----10
3. Amanda Kramer, 2011, L 1-0-0-----1
3fr: Naomi Walther, 2011, OH 0-4-14----18
4. Sarah Tramm, 2009, S 0-0-0-----0
4fr: Lauren Koepke, 2011, RH 0-3.5-1----4.5
5. Mercedes Akinsanya, 2010, OH 2-0-5----7
6. Breanna Schafer, 2009, DS 2-0-1-----3
6fr: Elizabeth Reedstrom, 2010, MH 0-2.5-0-----2.5
totals: 12-10-29-----51 points, 24 points on Minnehaha errors

MINNEHAHA
1. Sarah Lucht, 2009, L 0-0-0----0
1fr: Emilia Kronschnabel, 2010, MH 0-1-3-----4
2. Allison Yaeger, 2009, OH 1-0-0-----1
3. Brigid Kelly, 2012, S 0-0-0------0
3fr: Natalie Welsch, 2013, RH 0-1-3-----4
4. Claire Anderson, 2010, serve 0-0-0-----0
4fr: Katelyn Adams, 2011, MH 0-2-6-----8
5. Sarah Winter, 2011, OH 0-1-7-----8
6. Sara Smith, 2010, S 1-0-0------1
6fr: Annie Wright, 2011, RH 0-0-0-----0
6fr: Anna Pawlenty, 2011, RH 0-0-1-----1
totals: 2-5-20------27 points, 24 points on CR errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Naomi Walther, another middle that controlled the net

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Concordia Roseville 20/31-.645; 75;
Minnehaha 10/31-.323; 51;
Runs 3+: CR 11, Minnehaha 5
Longest string: CR 11, Minnehaha 5
Missed Serves: CR 6, Minnehaha 5
Time Out %: Minnehaha 2/4-.500; CR 1/3-.333

ROTATIONS
CONCORDIA ROSEVILLE
1. Frehner 11-10 .524
2. Otte 21-8 .724
3. Kramer 11-8 .579
4. Tramm 10-10 .500
5. Akinsanya 7-6 .538
6. Schafer 15-9 .625
totals: 75-51 .595

MINNEHAHA
1. Lucht 11-21 .344
2. Yaeger 8-10 .444
3. Kelly 7-9 .438
4. Anderson 11-10 .524
5. Winter 6-14 .300
6. Smith 8-11 .421
totals: 51-75 .405

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

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Concordia 2 12 11
Minnehaha 4 0 1

Next up: 2AAA championship

Playoff Out & About: SW Christian Chaska/Meadow Creek

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

SECTION 4A
Championship
SOUTHWEST CHRISTIAN CHASKA stars 3, MEADOW CREEK saints 0
(25-17, 25-18, 25-11)

Southwest Christian of Chaska is headed to the state A tournament for the first time with a sweep of Meadow Creek. The Stars kept building strength as the day went on. Cassie Haag had 18 points to lead the Stars.

There must have been jitters early for both teams as both teams allowed runs on the first three serves. Meadow Creek ran off five straight to lead 5-3. That was to be the last time they scored on their serve in the first set. After that SWC put together 12 straight first ball side outs. Both teams traded 10 side outs. SWC missed three serves in that stretch. Haag started to heat up with two points, one on an overpass kill that forced MC to take their first time out trailing 13-10. At one stretch Haag had five of the eight Stars points. With nothing to show off the Saints serve it was hard to cut the margin. MC took their second time out trailing 22-15. The first set ended on a block by Angie Swanson.

SWC didn't quite have the same air tight FBSO game in the second set. MC had another good start with a run of four to lead 6-4. SWC used a five point run with Angie Swanson providing four straight points (five if you count the point right before the sequence). MC took a time out at 11-7. MC had one last thrust with a four point run to tie the contest at 12. Then SWC shut the door with four straight FBSO. SWC got Haag involved in a 10-2 run with six points. MC didn't help their cause with three straight missed serves including point 25.

MC changed their service order with the #4 spot becoming the #1 spot. MC was moving Tija Rudzitis away from Haag. It didn't faze SWC. They had their best start with an 8-2 run. That forced a MC time out. MC did close to 10-6, but again SWC had a door slamming FBSO game. They were 9/10 and .824 for the whole match. SWC had a six point run that took another MC time out at 15-6. For the third set MC earned only 5 points compared to 15 earned for SWC. The match ended on a Swanson kill and the Stars will be headed to State.

you can see the entire SW Christian Chaska vs Meadow Creek photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
SW CHRISTIAN CHASKA
1. Lucie Miller, 2009, L 0-0-0-----0
1fr: Martha Perrel, 2011, MH 0-0-4----4
2. Jessica Carlin, 2010, RH 3-0-5----8
3. Emily Robertson, 2010, DS 1-0-0----0
3fr: Lacey Hazel, 2010, OH 0-0-2---2
4. Cassie Haag, 2009, 0-5-13-----18
5. Sarah Bremer, 2010, S 0-0-0---0
6. Angie Swanson, 2009, OH 1-1-11-----13
totals: 5-6-35-----46 points, 29 points on MC errors

MEADOW CREEK
MC started with this rotation in sets 1 and 2. In set three they started with the 4th spot (Rudzitis)
1. Lauren Sutherland, 2010, MH 0-0-3-----3
2. Lexi Bertsch, 2010, L 0-0-0----0
2fr: Danielle Carter, 2010, OH 0-1-2----3
3. Steph Rohwer, 2010, S 0-0-0----0
4. Tija Rudzitis, 2009, MH 0-2-8----10
5. Kelli Strandland, 2010, OH 0-0-4----4
5. Lisi Arnstrom, 2010, OH 0-0-0----0
6. Courtney Fregeau, 2010, DS 1-0-0-----1
6fr: Camille Bowers, 2010, S 0-0-1-----1
6fr: Annie Griffin, 2010, RH 0-0-0----0
totals: 1-3-18-----22 points, 24 points on SW errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Cassie Haag force in the middle

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
SW Christian Chaska 28/34-.824; 75; .613; .522
Meadow Creek 16/35-.457; 46; .478; .387
Runs 3+: SWC 12, MC 3
Longest string: SWC 6, MC 5
Missed Serves: SWC 11, MC 6
Time Out %: MC 4/6-.667; SWC did not take a time out.

ROTATIONS
SW CHRISTIAN CHASKA
1. Miller 15-11 .577
2. Carlin 16-6 .727
3. Robertson 16-9 .640
4. Haag 7-6 .538
5. Bremer 10-7 .588
6. Swanson 11-7 .611
totals: 75-46 .620

MEADOW CREEK
1. Sutherland 8-14 .364
2. Bertsch 9-16 .360
3. Rohwer 9-12 .429
4. Rudzitis 6-10 .375
5. Strandlund 6-9 .400
6. Fregeau 8-14 .364
totals: 46-75 .380

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

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
SW Christian 8 8 14
Meadow Creek 2 2 1

Next up: 4AA Championship

Playoff Out & About: STMA/Alexandria

#5 posting 10.31.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SECTION 8AAA
Championship
ST. MICHAEL-ALBERTVILLE knights 3, ALEXANDRIA cardinals 2
(25-21, 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 19-17)

In a Halloween classic, #1 South seed STMA beat #1 North seed Alexandria in a tight thriller/heartbreaker depending on which side of the bleachers you sat. The passion of the fans took on an added emphasis with the Halloween costumes. The fact is I went through a whole clip of photos and then some. I also had to move from my favorite angle on the bleachers due to the overwhelming Cardinal support than continually blocked my view. I perched myself in the end zone for unobstructed views, but photo profiles were sacrificed.

This had all the makings of a classic before it began: #1. Both teams were ranked in the coaches poll---STMA #4; Alex #7; #2 Both teams were ranked in the MaxPreps all state poll---STMA #5; Alex #6. #3. Both teams had two players each that will continue on with their volleyball careers after high school. The electricity was already crackling in the air. Throw in Costumes and the give and take and you come up with memorable volleyball. Rallies lasted longer, with players making digs and keeping the ball alive. With a ticket to state on the line you would expect nothing less than full effort. Both teams did that and more tonight.

Alex had a 2-1 lead in the contest. In the fourth set both teams were tied at 20 before the Knights closed with five straight points. In the fifth set, STMA led 14-10. Alex fought back four straight match points to tie it at 14. STMA had two more chances and didn't close. Alex then had one match point but it wasn't in the Cards for them at 17-16. Katherine Harms had the key side out point to tie at 17 and then served out. Alex was in the net for point 18, and Harms put down her 33rd kill of the night from the back row to make it a good Knight for STMA.

The first set was a back and forth until a 10-3 run by STMA broke the game open. Alex led 13-12 when the Knights started their surge. Alex took two time outs at 16-13 and 22-16 trying to stop the Knight momentum. In both situations it worked. STMA led 24-18 but needed four set points to close out the Cardinals. Harms had 12 points in the first set, including five of the last eight STMA points.

The first set featured four runs by both teams combined. Set two the runs doubled. STMA used the momentum in the first set to get out to a 7-4 run. Harms had three points at that time, but only had one more the rest of the set. Alex got right back into the fray with four straight points of their own. That was the start of a 11-2 Cardinal run to put Alex up 13-9. The pendulum swung back to the Knights as they embarked on a 10-2 run. Alex had to burn two time outs to halt the momentum, one with Alex up 13-12, the other at 19-15 STMA. The pendulum swung back Alex's direction after the second time out. The Cardinals closed with a 10-3 run with five different players putting down kills for Alex. STMA took their first time out at 20 and after the break exchanged three side outs to lead 22-21. The final four Alex points came on a block and kill by Jacque Brown and then two kills by Alicia Montbriand. The series was all tied up.

The theme of set three was a block party. Alexandria had 8 points on blocks in set three as the Knights didn't pierce their defenses. STMA had to resort to tips at times. Alex jumped out to a 5-1 lead. Of the first 9 Cardinal points in set three five came via blocks. STMA did close to 10-9, but Alex responded with a 4-1 run forcing a Knight time out at 14-10. Ariel Carlson delivered two blocks in that sequence. She had four for set three alone. After the time out both teams traded side outs for six serves. STMA had another push of three to cut the margin to 18-16 which forced the first Alex time out. Jacque Brown scored the next two points for Alex on a block (naturally) and a kill. Once again the persistent Knights closed the gap to 23-22 with two straight points by Carly Rothstein on an overpass kill followed by a block. Alex burned their second time out and got a kill from Samantha Dale. That prompted a Knight time out. The final point ended up with STMA in the net. There was jubilation among the Cardinal costumed crazies, with concern emanating from the STMA camp.

STMA broke open set four with a 7-1 sequence which started with two Alex hitting errors. The Cardinals took their first time out at 11-8, but STMA added another point before Alexandria sided out. Side outs ruled the court with 12 straight back and forths. For Alex, Carlson had three of the six FBSO points. For STMA Harms had three of the six Knight side out points. A disputed point stopped the exchange on Katie Brown's serve for the Cardinals. Either it was a back row attack ---a late call---or STMA was in the net. It negated what looked to be a kill by Marie O'Neil. Carlson added a kill after that to tie the contest at 18. Again it was back to the side out exchanges with STMA pulling out 21-20 after a Harms kill. She got the ball on the serve and didn't let go. Alex took their second time out at 22-20, but Harms kept serving right to the finish. Rothstein ended the set with a block and the match was now knotted at four.

Alex got the serve to start the fifth set. O'Neil put down a kill and STMA soon led 3-0. Alex grabbed a 5-3 lead with five straight points, their largest sequence of the night. The Knights were able to tie it up at 6 all on an ace by Harms. Dale put up a block for a Cardinal point. Brittani Wiese got the side out for STMA and Maria Berning put down a kill to tie at at 8. Two Cardinal hitting errors put STMA up 10-9 and forced a Alex time out. Nicole Throngard got a kill to tie at 10 after the break. STMA then ran off four more points, two coming on Alex hitting errors. That put the contest on the brink at 14-10. With their backs to the wall, the Cardinals held off four straight match points. Angela Christianson had a kill and a block for 12 and 13, and Carlson put down a kill to tie it at 14. Both teams then traded four straight side outs. STMA had two more match points in that run, but could close the deal. A hitting error by STMA put Alex one point away from St. Paul, but Harms put an end to those thoughts with a side out kill. She then went to the service line. In sets four and five she had missed three of her last four serves. She didn't miss the next two. Alex was in the net for point 18 and then Harms herself from the back row finished the grueling contest with a kill. STMA is going back to St. Paul for the second straight season, and 8th trip overall.
You can see the humongous STMA vs Alexandria photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com. You might need to hold all calls when viewing these.

More to come

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
ST. MICHAEL-ALBERTVILLE
1. Catherine Yager, 2009, S 3-3-5-----11
2. Lindsay Berning, 2009, DS 2-0-0-----2
2fr: Maria Berning, 2009, OH 0-1-11------12
3. Samantha Dick, 2009, serve 1-0-0-----1
3fr: Marie O'Neil, 2009, MH 0-3.5-2-----5.5
3br: Allie Knutsen, 2009, L
4. Katherine Harms, 2009, RH 2-1.5-33----36.5
5. Brittani Wiese, 2009, OH 0-0-10-----10
6. Allie Knutsen, 2009, L 2-0-0--------2
6fr: Carly Rothstein, 2010, MH 0-2-4----6
totals: 10-11-64------85 points, 28 points on Alex errors

ALEXANDRIA
1. Katie Brown, 2010, S 0-0-2-----2
1fr: Angela Christianson, 2010, RH 0-2-9----11
2. Greta Wood, 2009, DS 2-0-0-----2
2fr: Alicia Montbriand, 2009, OH 0-0-4----4
2fr: Nicole Throngard, 2009, OH 0-0-2----2
3. Ariel Carlson, 2009, MH 3-5-17----25
3br: Valerie Smith, 2009, L
4. Keely Gross, 2010, S 0-0-0-----0
4fr: Jacque Brown, 2010, RH 0-3-7----10
5. Samantha Dale, 2009, OH 0-3-12-----15
6. Valerie Smith, 2009, L 0-0-0----0
6fr: Sam Trumm, 2011, MH 0-5-1----6
6fr: Kaitlin Becker, 2011, MH 0-1-0----1
totals: 5-19-54------78 points; 30 points on STMA errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Katherine Harms rose to the occassion in set five with 8.5 points

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
STMA 37/65 -.569; 113; .752; .259
Alexandria 37/64-.578; 108; .722; .265
Runs 3+: STMA 13, Alex 10
Longest string: STMA 5, Alex 5
Missed Serves: STMA 11, Alex 2
Time Out %: Alex 6/10-.600; STMA 4/7-.571

ROTATIONS
STMA
1. Yager 24-20 .545
2. Berning 20-27 .426
3. Dick 18-22 .450
4. Harms 22-15 .595
5. Wiese 10-15 .400
6. Knutsen 19-9 .679
totals: 113-108 .511

ALEXANDRIA
1. Brown 23-20 .535
2. Wood 26-19 .578
3. Carlson 20-25 .444
4. Gross 14-11 .560
5. Dale 14-19 .424
6. Smith 11-19 .367
totals: 108-113 .489

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 S S S S S
set 2 S A S S A
set 3 A A A A A
set 4 A S S S S
set 5 A S S

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3 4 5
STMA 6 4 0 5 4
Alex 2 4 5 2 2

Next up: tomorrow

Playoff Out & About: 6AAA Wayzata/Hopkins

#3 posting 10.30.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SECTION 6AAA
Championship
WAYZATA trojans 3, HOPKINS royals 1
(25-18, 23-25, 25-16, 25-23)

#1 seed Wayzata punched their ticket to the state AAA Tournament with a 3-1 win over Hopkins. The Trojans keep their recent string of tournament berths in even years as both teams have traded spots in the state tournament the last four seasons. This was the third time this season Wayzata beat their Classic Lake Rivals. Last year Hopkins went to the show with the exact same 3-1 win in the championship. It was touch and go at the end of the match. Wayzata scored on their seventh match point. Tia Gaffen had 23 points on the night to lead the Trojans.

Both these team know each other well. Points were not flowing freely as they anticipated each other's moves. Hopkins had the advantage early in this set as they used two runs to build an 11-7 lead. Then the set broke open with an 11-1 Wayzata run. Of the 11 points, six came on Hopkins errors. The Royals took their first time out at 15-12 after an overpass kill by Gaffen. Gaffen had three kills in that run. In the meantime Wayzata had their first ball side out game ramped up. The Trojans finished with seven straight FBSO and were 11/13 for the first set. Gaffen had kills points in the first set.

Hopkins led at the early stages in set two with two three point runs to lead 9-3. Once again the Wayzata FBSO game went into overdrive with seven straight. With the Trojans slamming the door on defense, they chipped away on offense. Wayzata took their first lead at 17-16 and pushed it out to 20-17. Hopkins took a time out at 19-17. The Royals didn't crack. Alicia Vossen finished strong with five points in a 8-3 Hopkins closing run. Vossen had 7 points in the second set. The set ended on a Wayzata hitting error. Here is the big difference in this set----Hopkins had 20 earned points to Wayzata's 11.

Hopkins adrenaline was flowing a bit too much to start the third set. Of the first 10 Wayzata points six came on Hopkins errors. The Trojans kept building their lead out to 17-12 when Hopkins took their first time out. A quick three point burst by Hopkins cut the margin to 17-15. Wayzata left no doubt at the end of set three with a 8-1 run. Wayzata had 14 earned points to Hopkins' 10.

It looked like Wayzata was going to stampede to the fourth set win as they had three runs in the first four serves to lead 13-4. Hopkins took their second time out at that point and it stopped the bleeding. In fact Wayzata started to bleed with a five point run. All five points came on Wayzata errors. Hopkins managed to cut the margin to 14-11. Gaffen then had four of the next seven Trojan points and it looked like Wayzata was on their way at 21-13. Not so fast. Hopkins again rose up with four straight points to cut the lead to 21-17. After a net side out Wayzata tacked on two more to lead 24-17. A kill by Erin Ohlemann put the ball back in the Royals' hands. The Trojans couldn't get the side out for the next three points which forced Wayzata's second time out at 24-21. On match point five and six Hopkins added to their totals with a kill by Ohlemann and an ace by Vossen. The match ended on a Hopkins hit that went out and the Trojans picked up their even year State tournament ticket.

you can see the entire Wayzata vs Hopkins photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
WAYZATA
1. Kelsey Durocher, 2010, L 1-0-0-----1
1fr: Toni Okuyemi, 2012, MH 0-0.5-10----10.5
2. Julia Doyle, 2012, S 0-0.5-2----2.5
3. Olivia Fiergola, 2010, OH 1-0-10-----11
3br. Jackie Smith, 2009, DS 0-0-0----0
4. Tia Gaffen, 2009, MH 1-2-20----23
4br: Kelsey Durocher, 2010, L
5. Allison Lutz, 2009, S 2-0-2-----4
6. Kelsey Simmons, 2010, DS 0-0-0-----0
6fr: Jessica Kegel, 2011, OH 0-0-6----6
totals: 5-3-50-----58 points, 40 points on Hopkins errors

HOPKINS
1. Emily Gunsch, 2009, L 1-0-0---1
1fr: Ellen Gallagher, 2009, MH 0-1-3----4
2. Emma Henke, 2010, S 1-0-4----5
2. Christine Gilbert, 2009, DS 0-0-0----0
3. Jill Greenfield, 2011, OH 1-0-12----13
4. Alicia Vossen, 2010, MH 1-4-8-----13
5. Sarah Younger, 2009, S 0-1-5----6
6. Erin Ohlemann, 2011, OH 0-0-9----9
totals: 4-6-41-----51 points, 31 points on Wayzata errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Tia Gaffen, Dominated in set 4

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Wayzata 33/50-.660; .592; .378
Hopkins 22/49-.449; .622; .408
Runs 3+: Wayzata 12, Hopkins 8
Longest string: Wayzata 6, Hopkins 6
Missed Serves: Wayzata 9, Hopkins 6
Time Out %: Hopkins 3/7-.429; Wayzata 0/3-.000

ROTATIONS
WAYZATA
1. Durocher 17-9 .607
2. Doyle 21-14 .600
3. Fiergola 17-17 .500
4. Gaffen 15-18 .455
5. Lutz 17-14 .548
6. Simmons 11-10 .523
totals: 98-82 .544

HOPKINS
1. Gunsch 10-22 .313
2. Henke 14-17 .452
3. Greenfield 17-16 .515
4. Vossen 16-18 .471
5. Younger 13-12 .520
6. Ohlemann 12-13 .480
totals: 82-98 .455

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 H H W W W
set 2 H H H W H
set 3 W W W W W
set 4 W W W W W

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Wayzata 7 3 9 9
Hopkins 4 4 1 0

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

Playoff Out & About: 5AAA Osseo/Centennial

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

5AAA PLAYOFFS
semifinals
OSSEO orioles 3, CENTENNIAL cougars 1
(26-28, 28-26, 25-15, 25-14)

#2 seed Osseo survived two set points in set two and rode that momentum to beat #3 seed Centennial in the next sets. Centennial's "earned" points dropped from 19.5 in the first two sets to 7 in the next two as Osseo's defense tightened up at the net. Osseo had 52 earned points, while getting 52 points on Centennial errors. In fact the Cougars had 53 earned points, one more that the Orioles. Osseo however had fewer errors on the night.

The night can be divided into two portions---back and forth, and going away. Centennial had five runs in the first set including the first two. Both times it was only a three point run and Osseo never trailed by more than three. Osseo had a run of four to retake the lead at 17-15 which forced the first Centennial time out. After the break the Cougars ran off three straight to take an 18-17 lead. All three points came from Micah Sater kills. Karen Hiltunen ended that with a side out kill and then started serving. The Orioles added three more points for a 21-18 lead. The last two points came on Osseo blocks. Centennial had their 4th run to tie it up at 22. That forced an Osseo time out. After that the game moved to a side out game with 8 straight side outs. Osseo had two set points in the sequence, but Leigh Pudwill got point 24 for Centennial and Sater had point 25 to tie. The Cougars had their fifth run of the first set to close out the win. Pudwill had the kill to get the 27-26 advantage and then an Osseo hitting error ended the first set.

Set two was similiar but reversed. Osseo had the early advantage. A four point run gave the Orioles a 10-5 lead. Centennial answered right away with their own four point run. Two serves later Centennial had another four point run to take a 14-12 lead. An Osseo time out ended that and started an Oriole three point run. Two straight Centennial hitting errors were part of the equation. Six side outs later Osseo still led 18-17. Centennial moved forward on their third and final run of the set. Osseo returned the favor with three straight of their own to retake the lead 21-20. Centennial edged out ahead 23-22 when Osseo took a time out. Two Centennial errors later Osseo led 24-23 forcing the Cougars second time out. A deep serve and then a block put Centennial on the cusp of a two set margin, but Rachel Pekarek got the key side out. Centennial's Krista Stoltz got a side out kill to give Centennial their second match point. A deep hitting error on a slide turned the ball over to Osseo. Hiltunen slammed home an overpass kill and then Sathre served up an ace to ice the second set.

That loss took a lot of steam out of the Cougars. The next set Centennial only had four earned points. In fact in the first 10 Osseo points only 3 were earned. In the first 7 Centennial points zero were earned. Osseo cleaned up their mistakes the rest of the set allowing only four more. Meanwhile Centennial gave away 7 more points. Sathre had four points in the third set.

Centennial had one last gasp as they led 7-3 in the fourth set. That forced an Oriole time out and the Orange and Black outscored Centennial the rest of the night 22-7. The key service came on Amanda Hoefling's serve as Osseo had an 8 point run to lead 16-9. Centennial had five errors in that sequence. Centennial narrowed the gap to 16-12 after three straight kills, two by Sater. But missed serves torpedoed any momentum that was building. Rachel Wiinanen didn't give the ball back until Osseo added six more points. Osseo led 24-13 when a missed serve gave it back to Centennial. Sathre ended the night with a kill, her 11th on the night.

you can see the entire Osseo vs Centennial photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
OSSEO
1. Rachel Wiinanen, 2009, MH 3-1-3----7
1br: Kyle Everett, 2011, L
2. Lauren Everett, 2009, S 0-0-0----0
2fr: Sarah Pekarek, 2011, RH 0-3-6----9
3. Rachel Pekarek, 2009, OH 0-1-8----9
4. Lindsey Sathre, 2009, MH 3-1-11---15
4br: Kyle Everett, 2011, L
5. Amanda Hoefling, 2009, S 1-0-0----1
6. Karen Hiltunen, 2010, OH 0-1-10----11
totals: 7-7-38----52 points; 52 points on Centennial errors

CENTENNIAL
1. Allison Atkins, 2009, L 2-0-0-----2
1fr: Amanda McAulay, 2010, MH 0-0-7----7
2. Hannah Glocke, 2011, S 2-0-0-----2
2fr: Abby Mohr, 2010, RH 0-0-3----3
3. Leigh Pudwill, 2012, OH 0-0.5-17-----17.5
4. Megan Waytashek, 2010, MH 2-2-4----8
4br: Allison Atkins, 2009, L
5. Krista Stoltz, 2010, S 1-0.5-1----2.5
6. Micah Sater, 2009, OH 0-0-11-----11
6br: Kaila Solberg, 2009, DS 0-0-0---0
6serve: Nicole Thul, 2010, serve 0-0-0----0
totals: 7-3-43----53 points, 30 points on Osseo errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Lindsey Sathre. Ace finished key second set. consistent throughout

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Osseo 29/49 -.592; 104; .500; .361
Centennial 23/48-.479; 83; .639; .500
Runs 3+: Osseo 12, Centennial 12
Longest string: Osseo 8, Centennial 4
Missed Serves: Centennial 16, Osseo 12
Time Out %: Osseo 4/5-.800; Centennial 3/7-.429

ROTATIONS
OSSEO
1. Wiinanen 21-21 .500
2. L Everett 16-14 .533
3. R Pekarek 19-12 .612
4. Sathre 13-11 .542
5. Hoefling 23-19 .548
6. Hiltunen 12-6 .667
totals: 104-83 .556

CENTENNIAL
1. Atkins 22-17 .564
2. Glocke 14-19 .424
3. Pudwill 11-14 .440
4. Waytashek 10-25 .286
5. Stoltz 18-12 .600
6. Sater/Thul 8-17 .320
totals: 83-104

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 C C C O O*
set 2 O O O C C*
set 3 O O O O O
set 4 C O O O O
*other team won set

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Osseo 3 5 10 11
Centennial 3 2 0 4

next up: The other 5AAA Semifinal

Out & About: 3AAA Eastview/Burnsville

#4 posting 10.28.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SECTION 3AAA
semifinals
EASTVIEW lightning 3, BURNSVILLE blaze 0
(25-19, 25-23, 25-11)

#1 seed Eastview rallied from a 22-19 deficit in set two and used that momentum to douse #5 Burnsville in a sweep. The Lightning's 14-6 finish in the second set carried over to the final frame. Eastview's first ball side out % was .676. Earlier in the year Eastview beat Burnsville in four. Just as in the first contest this game featured a dominating hitter vs balance. Tori Dixon had 18 points on the night for Burnsville with 13 kills. The next highest kill total for Burnsville was 4. Eastview had five players with five or more kills, with three in double digits.

Eastview broke open the first set when Tori Dixon moved to the back row. It was 7 all when Lightning struck for six straight points. Steph Kent and Ashley Murtha each had three points in the run. Burnsville took their first time out during the Lightning strike. Eastview pushed their lead out to 18-9 to finish an 11-2 run. The Blaze took their final time out then. By that time Dixon was back in the front row and Burnsville took advantage of that with a 6-3 run. Dixon had 4 points in the burst. Six straight side outs kept the set tilted for Eastview. The Lightning did have rotation problems when Stacy Kuhlmann served out of order. A Lightning time out at 24-19 had the intended effect with a side out kill by Kelsey Schile.

Burnsville's best chance to take a set came in two. The Blaze jumped to a 7-2 lead on a six point run on Lauren Butler's serve. She had two aces in the run and Dixon added two kills. Eastview narrowed the gap to 8-7 with a run of four. Burnsville didn't relinquish the lead however. The Blaze kept adding to their margin with two more runs out to 17-11. After that Eastview shut the door with six straight FBSO. Burnsville still had a 22-19 lead after a quick kill by Molly Duehn. A missed serve returned the ball to Eastview. The Lighting wouldn't part with the ball for another four points. By that time Eastview led 24-22. Grant had three straight kills sandwiched around Burnsville's second time out. A Lauren Butler kill gave new hope to the Blaze as Dixon returned to the front row. All she could do was watch as the next Burnsville serve sailed into the net for the final point of the set.

That loss seemed to dampen the Blaze's fire in set three. It was 8-6 Eastview when the roof caved in. Again with Dixon on the bench Eastview ran rampant. On Kaiti Wachter's serve Eastview added seven more in addition to the side out for a 16-6 lead. Murtha had four points in that burst. The final run of six by Eastview to make it 24-10 came on Grant's serve. In addition to her net play Grant served up three straight aces out to 24. A passing error put the ball back to Burnsville, but the hole was too deep. Karlee Lursen finished the night with her 13th kill.

Eastview will now face Lakeville South in the finals on Saturday night at South St. Paul.

you can see the entire Eastview vs Burnsville photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
EASTVIEW
1. Anna Olson, 2009, S 0-0-1----1
2. Kayla Joyce, 2009, DS 3-0-0----3
2fr: Ashley Murtha, 2011, OH 0-1.5-9----10.5
3. Lauren Grant, 2010, MH 3-3.5-11---17.5
3br: Kaiti Wachter, 2009, L
4. Stacy Kuhlmann, 2009, DS 2-0-0----2
4fr: Kelsey Schile, 2011, RH 0-0.5-6---6.5
5. Karlee Lursen, 2009, OH 1-0.5-13----14.5
6. Kaiti Wachter, 2009, L 1-0-0-----1
6fr: Steph Kent, 2009, MH 0-1-5----6
totals: 10-7-35----52 points; 23 points on Burnsville errors

BURNSVILLE
1. Camille Benson, 2012, L 0-0-0----0
1fr: Molly Duehn, 2010, MH 0-1-1----2
2. Ali Butler, 2012, S 0-0-4----4
3. Lauren Butler, 2009, OH 2-1-4----7
4. Tori Dixon, 2010, MH 0-5-13-----18
5. Abby Olson, 2010, S 0-0-1-----1
6. Laura Beckmann, 2011, OH 0-0-3----3
6br: Megan Scholl, 2011, DS 0-0-0----0
totals: 2-7-26-----35 points, 18 points on Eastview errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Lauren Grant

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Eastview 23/34-..676; 75; .693; .340
Burnsville 13/32-.406; 53; .660; .307
Runs 3+: Eastview 8, Burnsville 5
Longest string: Eastview 8, Burnsville 6
Missed Serves: Eastview 3, Burnsville 3
Time Out %: Eastview 1/2-.500; Burnsville 2/6-.333

ROTATIONS
EASTVIEW
1. Olson 11-9 .550
2. Joyce 10-14 .417
3. Grant 12-8 .600
4. Kuhlmann 12-7 .632
5. Lursen 8-7 .533
6. Wachter 22-8 .733
totals: 75-53

BURNSVILLE
1. Benson 13-13 .500
2. A Butler 9-12 .429
3. L Butler 12-8 .600
4. Dixon 6-12 .333
5. Olson 6-18 .250
6. Beckmann 7-12 .368
totals: 53-75
With Dixon in the front row Burnsville was 34-33-- .507; with Dixon in the back row 19-42-- .312

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

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Eastview 9 2 14
Burnsville 1 6 2

Next up: tomorrow morning

Out & About: 3AAA Lakeville South/Lakeville North

#3 posting 10.28.2008
Your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SECTION 3AAA
semifinals
LAKEVILLE SOUTH cougars 3, LAKEVILLE NORTH panthers 0
(27-25, 25-23, 25-21)

In a civil war match up #3 South stunned rival #2 North in a revenge sweep. LN was the #1 team in the state overall according to MaxPreps. This was the first time in South's history they beat the Panthers. Since 2005 North swept the Cougars four straight years. South lost to North on September 18 in a sweep.

South rallied in each in every set for the win. In each in every set South scored the last three points to wrap up the win. South took the contest despite the fact they missed 11 serves on the night, while North didn't miss one. Balance was another factor in South's favor. North's Amy Braun had 19 kills, but only one other Panther had five kills. The Cougars countered with five players with five or more kills.

North was caught flatfooted at the start when South scored the first three points, two on aces by Josi Holter. North was forced to take a time out at 5-1 after another ace, this time by Taylor Hrdlichka. The Cougars maintained the early lead, but North had a 7-3 run to take a 16-15 lead. The Panthers bumped that lead out to 19-17. The rest of the set was spent trading three point (or more) runs. South took a 20-19 lead, then North strung together three kills to edge ahead 22-20. South took a time out at 21-20, but didn't get the side out. On the next ball Ellen Krueger got the side for the Cougars with a kill. Taylor Voss added three points off her serve for South to get to the 24-22 edge, but a net violation (South had 5 net violations in the first set alone) gave the ball back to North. A Braun kill and then a violation put North on the verge at 25-24. A North hitting error turned the ball back. Josi Holter served out with a block by Monica Turner and a kill by McKell Anderson ending the set 27-25.

North was forced to burn the first time out at 6-4 in set two when three hitting errors and a block by Jennie Kalbfell put the Cougars up. North had their own four point run later on to retake the lead 12-10. This was in the midst of a 6-1 run. Braun had three of the points. South responded right away with another three point run to lead 13-12. South broke free from a 16 all tie with their third three point run of the set to take a 19-16 lead. That forced another North time out. The momentum shifted North's way after the time out as the Panthers went on a 7-3 run to lead 23-22. McKell Anderson got the key side out kill and then Moncia Turner had a kill and then a block for the final two points.

South's adrenaline was flowing hard at this point. North, with their back against the wall, was fighting for their playoff lives. The combination of these factors put North ahead in most of the key break points. South missed four of five serves in an early stretch of set three, but North didn't move the needle that much. The Panthers did take advantage of the fourth miss to go on a 7-2 run. That forced a South time out at 17-13. Kalbfell had a quick kill after the break to stop the momentum. However a missed serve gave the ball back to North. After that South closed with a vengeance with a 11-3 run. In the first South run Ellen Krueger put down two kills. In the next South run North took a time out at 20 all. It didn't stop the South Express. Braun scored the final North point to make it 22-21 South. Taylor Hrdlichka got the side out kill and then Josi Holter served out. Turner and Hrdlichka took part in a block for point 24 and a Panther hitting error finished the night.

you can see the entire Lakeville South vs Lakeville North photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
LAKEVILLE SOUTH
1. Taylor Voss, 2011, S 1-0-1----2
1fr: Ellen Krueger, 2010, RH 0-0-7----7
2. Josi Holter, 2009, OH 2-0-7----9
3. Taylor Hrdlichka, 2009, MB 1-2.5-8----11.5
3br. Grace Sanders, 2009, L
4. Kelly Davenport, 2011, S 1-0-0----0
4fr: Monica Turner, 2012, RH 0-2.5-7----9.5
5. McKell Anderson, 2012, OH 0-0-5----5
6. Grace Sanders, 2009, L 1-0-1----2
6fr: Jenni Kalbfell, 2010, MB 0-1-4---5
totals: 6-6-40----52 points, 25 points on North errors

LAKEVILLE NORTH
1. Ellen Fox, 2010, DS 0-0-0----0
1fr: Christina Hanf, 2009, OH 0-0-3----3
2. Corinne Solheid, 2009, L 1-0-0----1
2fr: Jessica Spekman, 2009, MH 0-1-1-----2
3. Kellie McNeil, 2011, OH 1-0-4----5
4. Amy Braun, 2009, OH 1-4-19-----24
5. Cassie Weaver, 2010, DS 0-0-0---0
5fr: Brooke Lewko, 2009, MH 0-0-5----5
6. Leah Johnson, 2009, S 0-0-2----2
totals: 3-5-34-----42 points, 27 points on South errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Grace Sanders---solid defensive effort for the Cougars

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
L South 19/40-.475; 77; .675; .391
L North 20/41-.489; 69; .609; .325
Runs 3+: South 12, North 7
Longest string: South 4 (4 times), North 4 (1)
Missed Serves: South 11, North 0
Time Out %: South 1/2-.500; North 2/6-.333

ROTATIONS
LAKEVILLE SOUTH
1. Voss 15-16 .484
2. Holter 16-9 .640
3. Hrdlichka 12-13 .480
4. Davenport 11-11 .500
5. Anderson 9-9 .500
6. Sanders 14-11 .560
totals 77-69 .527

LAKEVILLE NORTH
1. Fox 13-15 .464
2. Solheid 13-12 .520
3. McNeil 14-12 .538
4. Braun 10-10 .500
5. Weaver 10-15 .400
6. Johnson 9-13 .409
totals: 69-77 .473
With Braun in the front row North was 40-39 .506; With Braun in the back row North was 29-38 .433.

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

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
L South 5 3 4
L North 2 2 4

Next up: the other 3AAA semifinal

Out & About: Stillwater/North St. Paul

#5 posting 10.24.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SECTION 4AAA
Quarterfinals
#2 STILLWATER ponies 3, #10 NORTH ST. PAUL polars 0
(25-11, 25-15, 25-10)

As expected the Stillwater Ponies swept North St. Paul with a margin of 39 points in the quarterfinals of 4AAA. For the night NSP had four first ball side outs which was good for .160. That factor along with 16 Pony aces made quick work of the Polars. As a team NSP had 13 kills on the night. Taylor Stippel of Stillwater had 11. Stippel ended up with 15.5 points on the night.

Again I charted this game and crossed another team off the Maxpreps top 50 list. Stillwater was #42 on the list. That means I have seen 72% of the top 50 teams with 14 teams left to go.

The Ponies surged forward with five points, four on Stippel's serve to make it 8-3. NSP added four right away to make it 8-7. After that the dam burst. NSP had trouble getting any side outs. When Adrianna Nora went back to serve with the score 14-9 she rattled off 8 points----7 of them aces. When NSP moved back Nora went short. When they crept up, she dropped serves behind them. Nora's serve had a wicked drop and two time outs didn't solve the riddle. There was a time when Stillwater led 23-9, but two points were taken away due to a erroneous call. It didn't slow the Ponies down at all.

The second set was the most competitive. Stillwater jumped out to a 15-5 lead after three servers. The Polars did fight back and had a run of three late in the second set to cut the margin to 23-15, but the die was cast. Emily McDonough had five kills in the second set to lead the Ponies.

The third set had some similarities with the first. NSP led 2-1. The lack of FBSO and the fact Stillwater had runs on three of their first four servers put the Ponies on the fast track. Stillwater's FBSO was the tightest at this stage with .750 (6/8) including four straight. Stippel had 6 kills in this set to lead Stillwater including the final kill.

You can see the entire Stillwater vs North St. Paul photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com.

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
STILLWATER
1. Kayla Zeno, 2010, S 1-0-3----4
2. Katie Mikutowski, 2009, OH 3-0-5----8
3. Taylor Stippel, 2009, MH 3-1.5-11----15.5
3br Katie Germschied, 2009, L 0-0-0----0
4. Macey Finizio, 2011, RH 0-0-6----6
4br Erin Gaides, 2011, DS 0-0-0----0
4br Kitty Tynen, 2010, DS 0-0-0----0
5. Emily McDonough, 2011, OH 0-0.5-10----10.5
6. Adrianna Nora, 2011, MH 9-0-2----11
6br Katie Germschied, 2009, L
totals: 16-2-37------55 points, 20 points on NSP errors

NORTH ST. PAUL
1. Kelli Koehnle, 2009, L 0-0-0---0
1fr Katie Hayes, 2009, MH 0-0-0----0
2. Sean Crotty, 2011, S 0-0-1----1
3. Casssie Bertelsen, 2011, OH 2-0-4----6
4. Sophie Jaskulske, 2012, MH 0-0.5-5----5.5
5. Julianne Gruenhagen, 2011, DS 1-0-0----1
5fr. Ellie Stafford, 2009, RH 0-0.5-1----1.5
6. Amy Carlson, 2009, DS 0-0-0----0
6fr. Bre Brown, 2010, OH 0-0-2----2
totals: 3-1-13-----17 points, 19 points on Stillwater errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Taylor Stippel

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Stillwater 16/24-.667; 75; .733; .528
North St. Paul 4/25-.160; 36; .472; .267
Runs 3+: Stillwater 10, NSP 3
Longest string: Stillwater 9, NSP 4
Missed Serves: Stillwater 7, NSP 3
Time Out %: NSP 2/6-.333; Stillwater did not take a time out.

ROTATIONS
STILLWATER
1. Zeno 11-11 .500
2. Mikutowski 21-7 .750
3. Stippel 14-7 .667
4. Finizio 9-4 .692
5. McDonough 6-3 .667
6. Nora 14-4 .778
totals: 75-36 .676

NORTH ST. PAUL
1. Koehnle 8-20 .286
2. Crotty 7-16 .304
3. Bertelsen 9-14 .391
4. Jaskulske 3-6 .333
5. Gruenhagen 4-13 .235
6. Carlson 5-6 .455
totals: 36-75 .324

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

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Stillwater 14 12 15
North St. Paul 1 0 1

Next up: tomorrow morning

Out & About: Prior Lake/Buffalo

#3 posting 10.22.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

PRIOR LAKE lakers 3, BUFFALO bison 0
(25-12, 25-10, 25-12)

In 2AAA playoffs #5 seed Prior Lake swept #12 Buffalo in convincing fashion. PL's margin of victory was 41 points and the Lakers had a first ball side out % of .741. PL didn't allow a run of 3 or more until late in the third set. Prior to that PL only allowed four two-point runs. Balance was also a key for the Lakers with five players scoring between 7 and 13 points on the night. With the win PL will face #4 seed Eden Prairie on Friday.

You might ask why this contest? I am still working off the top 50 list of Maxpreps and Prior Lake comes in at #47. The other teams were either too far away for me to get to after practice tonight, or aren't playing until later this week.

Buffalo started with the serve and came out with an ace on Danielle Goodfellow's serve. That lead didn't last very long. On the second PL serve Brittany Thompson started the first of 10 Laker runs with four in addition to the side out. The balance was already evident in the first set with four players connecting for three or more kills for PL. PL got the FBSO the last seven times against the Bison as they were off balance most of the night.

In set two PL jumped off to a six point lead off of Kirsten Schultz's serve. That prompted a time out by the Bison. Buffalo did stop PL on the next serve and shaved a point off the margin out to 10-5. The momentum soon swung back to PL with Thompson racking up five kills in the second set alone.

Buffalo enjoyed their biggest lead of the night at 2-0, but the Lakers quickly scored five straight. That lead mushroomed to 11-3 forcing a Bison time out. PL tacked on two more after the break to lead 13-3. Buffalo had their best sequence with a 8-4 run to cut the margin to 17-11. PL did make a few substitutions during this stretch. Once Sami Kemper stopped the run with a side out, Schultz delivered her serve for six more points and the margin was back in familiar territory. Schultz had three aces in that run. The match ended with both teams trading missed serves.

you can see the entire Prior Lake vs Buffalo photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
PRIOR LAKE
1. Kirsten Schultz, 2010, Server/MH-3 5-0-0----5
1fr: Mackenzie Remick, 2011, MH 0-1-6----7
1br: Katelyn Berens, 2010, L 0-0-0----0
2. Molly Branson, 2010, DS 1-0-0----1
2fr: Sami Kemper, 2010, RH 0-0-8-----8
3. Brittany Thompson, 2010, OH 1-0-7----8
4. Emily Holte, 2010, MH 3-2-8-----13
4br: Katelyn Berens, 2010, L
5. Kathryn Gaydos, 2010, S 0-0-3-----3
6. Brittni Wangerin, 2009, OH 0-0-7-----7
6br: Ashley Flaschenriem, 2010, DS 0-0-0----0
6br: Myah Holmquist, 2010, DS 0-0-0----0
totals: 10-3-39-----52 points, 23 points on Buffalo errors

BUFFALO
1. Danielle Goodfellow, 2009, L 2-0-0-----2
1fr: Sophie Stangl, 2011, MH 0-0-5----5
2. Hannah Rohl, 2009, DS 0-0-0----0
2fr: Molly Muntifering, 2011, RH 0-0-0-----0
2fr: Brooke Gagnon, 2011, RH 0-0-0----0
3. Dani Iverson, 2009, OH 1-0-5----6
4. Catherine Mattson, 2009, MH 0-1-2----3
5. Shelby Quady, 2010, S 0-0-0----0
6. Apryl Schmitz, 2009, OH 0-0-5----5
totals: 3-1-17---21 points, 13 points on PL errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Emily Holte out of many possible Lakers

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Prior Lake 20/27-.741; 75; .693; .382
Buffalo 9/25-.360; 34; .618; .307
Runs 3+: PL 10, Buffalo 1
Longest string: PL 8, Buffalo 4
Missed Serves: PL 6, Buffalo 3
Time Out %: Buffalo 1/5-.200; PL did not take a time out

ROTATIONS
PRIOR LAKE
1. Schultz 22-7 .759
2. Branson 14-6 .700
3. Thompson 17-6 .739
4. Hohlte 10-5 .667
5. Gaydos 8-4 .667
6. Wangerin 4-6 .400
totals: 75-34 .688

BUFFALO
1. Goodfellow 8-15 .348
2. Rohl 6-17 .261
3. Iverson 5-11 .313
4. Mattson 5-8 .385
5. Quady 3-5 .375
6. Schmitz 7-19 .269
totals: 34-75 .312

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

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Prior Lake 13 15 13
Buffalo 1 0 2

more to come.

Out & About: Eagan/New Prague

#3 posting 10.16.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

EAGAN wildcats 3, NEW PRAGUE trojans 0
(25-7, 25-16, 25-9)

The Eagan Wildcats swept New Prague with a margin of 43 points. Eagan plays a brutal schedule. Their record after tonight's win is 10-13. However ten of those losses were against teams in the top 10 polls. The other three losses came to teams in the receiving vote category. So the record is a bit deceptive. New Prague found that out tonight. The Trojans are 9-18 on the year.

The Wildcats used a stellar FBSO (first ball side out) game with a .867 % (26/30) for the night. On top of that the lowest scoring Eagan rotation checked in with .667, and the Wildcats had a shutout in runs of three or more 11-0.

In the first set Eagan was a perfect 8 for 8 in FBSO. NP's ball control forced poor hitting options while Eagan used their service game for five aces. NP was forced to take their first time out at 8-2, but the Wildcats were on the prowl soon after. Eagan racked up their biggest run of the night with six points off of Katie Kvas' serve including two aces. The second time out came at 18-5 but nothing in the Trojans arsenal could pierce Eagan FBSO defense. The Wildcats closed the set with another six point run.

The second set was the most competitive of any of the sets as NP got off to a 2-0 start. The Trojans maintained that lead up to 7-5 when the Wildcats turned the tables with a five point run on Kristin Ammerman's serve putting the hosts up 10-7 and forcing a NP time out. Both teams traded 8 side outs in a row, but two of them were NP service errors. Eagan had another five point service run in which NP took their second time out at 20-14. It didn't slow the Wildcats down as they added two more points to their totals.

NP came back to the East side of the gym in set three and for some reason there must have been a curse on the bench because Eagan again dominated with five runs in that set alone. Right from the start Eagan led 5-0 with Ammerman get the FBSO kill and then tacking of four points off her serve. The second NP time out came at 15-5 and after that it was a matter of time before the night ended.

you can see the entire Eagan vs New Prague photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
EAGAN
1. Kristin Ammerman, 2010, S 3-0-3----6
2. Taylor Gerr, 2009, OH 1-0-7----8
2. Kyndra Beekman, 2011, DS 0-0-0---0
3. Shannon Basset, 2009, MH 1-1-7----9
3. Katie Willems, L
4. Katie Kvas, 2011, DS 2-0-0-----2
4fr: Jennica Adkins, 2009, RH 0-3-6----9
5. Kayla Slaikeu, 2010, OH 2-0-3-----5
5. Bree Blanchette, 2010, DS 0-0-0----0
6. Katie Willems, 2011, L 3-0-0-----3
6fr: Liz Petesch, 2010, MH 0-0-6----6
totals: 12-4-32-----48 points, 27 points on New Prague errors

NEW PRAGUE
1. Anissa Svoboda, 2009, S 1-0-2----3
2. Maggie Weiers, 2010, OH 0-2-7----9
3. Rit Rynda, 2009, MH 0-0-4----4
4. Shelby Dugas, 2011, RH 0-0.5-1----1.5
4. Bri Burns, 2010, S 0-0-0-----0
5. Jessica Hoffman, 2010, OH 0-0-3-----3
5br: Nicole Wehseler, 2010, DS 0-0-0-----0
6. Hannah Strop, 2010, MH 0-1.5-3-----4.5
6. Kalee Torp, 2010, MH 0-0-0------0
totals: 1-4-20------25 totals, 7 points on Eagan errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Kristin Ammerman

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Eagan 26/30 .867; 75; xxxx; .219
New Prague 13/31-.419; 32; .781;
Runs 3+: Eagan 11, NP 0
Longest string: Eagan 6, NP 2
Missed Serves: NP 8, Eagan 0
Time Out %: NP 3/6-.500; Eagan did not take a time out

ROTATIONS
EAGAN
1. Ammermann 20-10 .667
2. Gerr/Beekman 16-5 .762
3. Koenig 9-4 .692
4. Bassett 11-4 .733
5. Slaikeu 9-4 .692
6. Willems 10-5 .667
totals: 75-32 .701

NEW PRAGUE
1. Svoboda 10-13 .435
2. Weiers 5-18 .217
3. Rynda 4-8 .333
4. Dugas 4-11 .267
5. Hoffman 4-10 .286
6. Strop 5-15 .250
totals: 32-75 .299

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

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Eagan 18 9 16
New Prague 0 2 0

Next up: more to follow

Out & About: Minnesota/Iowa

#5 posting 10.15.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MINNESOTA gophers 3, IOWA hawkeyes 0
(25-11, 25-17, 25-23)

The Minnesota Gophers bounced back from Saturday's loss to #1 Penn State with a sweep of the improving Iowa Hawkeyes. The Gophers made a few adjustments in their line up. Kyla Roehrig did not play. Katie Vatterrodt replaced her on the outside. Also the Gophers switched the lefts around and moved the first rotation around too. On Saturday Hailey Cowles/Kyla Roehrig was the first server. Today it was Christine Tan/Kelly Schmidt. Also the FBSO% rose from .421 on Saturday to .703 tonight. Minnesota never trailed tonight.

The Gophers came out blazing in the first set with four points off the bat. Iowa was unable to get a FBSO on five of the first seven Gopher servers. On top of that Minnesota had four runs in that period with none for the Hawkeyes. Minnesota led 21-8. The biggest run came on Lauren Gibbemeyer's serve with five points in addition to the side out. Leading the charge was Kelly Schmidt. She had three points in that burst, all on slides. Schmidt had five points in the first set. Minnesota subbed Alex Blatt in late in the game for Rachel Hartmann and she delivered the coup de gras with a kill to finish the set 25-11.

Minnesota again started off strong with Iowa using their first time out at 6-2 after ball control issues. The Gophers had two overpass kills in that first sequence. Another six point run later, five on Rachel Hartmann's serve, put Minnesota up 12-5. Again it was Schmidt scoring a hat trick with three straight points. For this set Schmidt again was on fire with another five points. Brook Dieter had 7 points in that set to lead the Gophers. Iowa had their first run of the night to close to 13-10. Minnesota had two more 3 point runs in the set to give them a 21-13 lead and forcing the final Iowa time out. Both teams were an even four out the rest of the way.

In the third set Minnesota jumped out again 4-0. That margin increased to 11-5 when the Hawkeyes took the time out. This time the momentum did shift. Iowa went on a 5-2 run and it was the Gophers that took a time out, the first time on the night. The set seemed like a replay of the second as again the Gophers pushed out to 21-13 leading to another time out by the Hawkeyes. Again that shifted the momentum. That and substitution patterns by the Gophers. Iowa closed hard with a 10-3 run pushing the contest 24-23 Minnesota. Megan Schipper had five points in that last gasp. The final point came on a kill by Hailey Cowles.

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--earned/errors/differential
MINNESOTA
1. Christine Tan, L 1-0-0----1/1/0
1fr: Kelly Schmidt, MH 0-0-13----13/2/11
1fr: Ariana Filho, MH 0-0/1-1----1.5/0/1.5
2. Pamela Luiz, RH 0-0/1-5---5.5/2/3.5
2br: Jessica Granquist 1-0-0----1/2/-1
3. Hailey Cowles, DS 0-0-2----2/1/1
3fr: Katie Vatterrodt, OH 0-1/1-3----4.5/2/2.5
4. Lauren Gibbemeyer, MH 0-2/1-7----9.5/2/7.5
4br Christine Tan, L
4br Ashley Suapaia, DS 1-0-0-----1/0/0----1
5. Rachel Hartmann, S 0-0-2-----2/1/1
5. Alex Blatt, S 0-0-1-----1/1/0
6. Brook Dieter, OH 0-2-16----18/2/16
totals: 3-5/4-50-----60 points, 15 points on Iowa errors

IOWA
Iowa changed their rotations each set. The order below is from the first set.
set 1: Fister-Schipper-Hiza-Huffman-Smale-Kremer
set 2: Smale-Kremer-Fister-Schipper-Hiza-Hilgenberg
set 3: Kremer-Fister-Schipper-Hiza-Hilgenberg-Smale
1. Kiley Fister, S 0-0-3-----3/3/0
2. Megan Schipper, OH 2-1-10----13/5/8
2. Samantha Brannigan, DS 0-0-0----0/0/0
3. Emily Hiza, L 1-0-0-----1/1/0
3fr: Mallory Husz, MH 0-0/1-0----0.5/1/-0.5
3fr: Katie Kennedy, MH 0-0-1-----1/3/-2
4. Aimee Huffman, RS 0-0-7-----7/4/3
4br: Mara Hilgenberg, S 0-0-0-----0/1/-1
5. Catherine Smale, OH 0-0/1-9----9.5/6/3.5
6. Laura Kremer, MH 0-0-3-----3/2/1
totals: 3-1/2-33-------38 points, 13 points on Minnesota errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Kelly Schmidt

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Minnesota 26/37-.703; 75; .800; .255
Iowa 16/35-.457; 51; .745; .200
Runs 3+: Minnesota 10, Iowa 2
Longest point string: Minnesota 6, Iowa 5
Longest FBSO string: Minnesota 6, Iowa 2
Missed Serves: Minnesota 6, Iowa 2
Time Out %: Minnesota 1/1-1.000; Iowa 4/6-.667;

ROTATIONS
MINNESOTA
1. Tan 8-9 .471
2. Luiz 18-8 .692
3. Cowles 11-9 .550
4. Gibbemeyer 15-8 .652
5. Hartmann 14-6 .700
6. Dieter 9-11 .455
totals: 75-51 .595
When Hartmann was in the front row the Gophers were 44-25 (.638)

IOWA
1. Fister 8-16 .333
2. Schipper 9-13 .409
3. Hiza 7-14 .333
4. Huffman 9-12 .429
5. Smale 7-8 .467
6. Kremer 11-12 .478
totals: 51-75 .405

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

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Minnesota 14 8 8
Iowa 0 0 0

Next up: tomorrow

Out & About: Cretin-Derham Hall/White Bear Lake

#5 posting 10.13.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

CRETIN-DERHAM HALL raiders 3,
WHITE BEAR LAKE bears 1
(24-26, 25-10, 25-10, 25-12)

This was a match up where I saw the whole contest from start to finish. In the first Apple Valley Tournament I saw CDH vs Turtle Lake, WI for one set. At the start of October I saw WBL in one set vs Fridley. Tonight I saw the complete set.

Cretin-Derham Hall, after a tight first set, blew past White Bear Lake in four sets in a Suburban East contest. It was senior night at CDH and they put the pedal to the metal in sets two through four. They overpowered the younger WBL squad. For the night the CDH margin was 41 points----a whopping 10.25 points per set including the first. Madeline Howard led CDH with 15.5 points on the night.

The most compelling set came right off the bat. CDH scored the first three points and WBL responded with a run of four points of their own. Another CDH run of three put them up 7-5. After that the game never moved beyond two points either way. CDH had the advantage most of the time. WBL took their first time out with the Raiders up 20-18. After the break the Bears scored three straight forcing a CDH time out. The Raiders responded their own three point run of their own regaining the lead at 23-21. Once again WBL took their second time out to stop the momentum. It did and like the click-clack desk set WBL went on a three point run to take a 24-23 lead. CDH got a side out from Danielle Gibbemeyer to tie it up at 24. WBL got a side out kill on a bump kill by Haley Akermark and took the first set on a CDH hitting error.

After that it was all CDH. Each set after that was remarkably the same. The sets all started off fairly evenly with WBL even holding one point leads. But the dam soon burst. It started in the second set on Stefanie Bugasch's serve. She put down six more points after a side out to put the Raiders in front 10-4. That was just the start. WBL couldn't buy a FBSO. The next three Raider servers each had a run leading up to a 14-2 run.

In set three CDH had another 18-3 run in the same rotations--5, 6 and 1 (when Howard was in front for the Raiders and Mattai in the back for the Bears).

In the final set WBL led 6-5, but after two Raider servers and a 13-1 run in was just a matter of time. WBL struggled with ball control as CDH had four points on overpass kills in the fourth set alone.

CDH's defense limited WBL to zero runs in the last three sets. WBL couldn't generate much offense with Mattai in the back. Also WBL's missed serves didn't do the Bears any favors.

you can see the entire Cretin-Derham Hall vs White Bear Lake photo gallery at kevinanderson.photostockplus.com

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--totals
CRETIN-DERHAM HALL
1. Lizzy Henry, 2009, S 2-0-0-----2
1fr: Shannon Stinchfield, 2010, RH 0-0.5-4----4.5
2. Madeline Howard, 2009, MH 0-4.5-11----15.5
3. Annie Sutliff, 2009, OH 0-0-0-----0
3fr. Julia Bedford, 2009, OH 0-0-8----8
4. Stefanie Bugasch, 2009, S 0-0-0----0
4fr: Kayleen Folley, 2010, RH 0-0-4----4
4fr: Maria Harrington, 2010, RH 0-0-4---4
5. Emily Sherwood, 2009, L 3-0-0-----3
5fr: Sarah Hendricks, 2009, MH 0-2-7----9
6. Danielle Gibbemeyer, 2009, OH 1-2-11----14
totals: 6-9-49-----64 points, 35 points on WBL errors

WHITE BEAR LAKE
1. Rosie Murphy, 2009, MH 4-0-3----7
2. Hannah Indlecoffer, 2011, S 0-0-0----0
2. Ellie Erickson, 2011, S 0-0-0---0
2fr: Annie Bennek, 2009, RH 0-0-4-----4
3. Haley Akermark, 2011, OH 0-0-3----3
4. Kelsey Mattai, 2009, MH 1-0-10----11
5. Ali Mueller, 2011, S 0-0-0-----0
5fr: Elizabeth Gapp, 2012, RH 0-0-1----1
6. Kesley Bocklund, 2011, OH 0-0-7----7
totals: 5-0-28----33 points, 25 points on CDH errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Madeline Howard

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Cretin-Derham Hall 20/38-.526; 99; .646; .431
White Bear Lake 16/37-.432; 58; .569; .354
Runs 3+: CDH 14, WBL 3
Longest string: CDH 9, WBL 4
Missed Serves: WBL 7, CDH 4
Time Out %: WBL 3/7-.429; CDH 1/2-.500

ROTATIONS
CRETIN-DERHAM HALL
1. Henry 24-17 .585
2. Howard 9-10 .474
3. Sutliff/Bedford 9-9 .500
4. Bugasch 12-8 .600
5. Sherwood 22-6 .786
6. Gibbemeyer 23-8 .742
totals: 99-58 .631

WHITE BEAR LAKE
1. Murphy 17-12 .586
2. Erickson 9-9 .500
3. Akermark 9-12 .429
4. Mattai 7-23 .233
5. Mueller 6-23 .207
6. Bocklund 10-20 .333
totals: 58-99 .369
When Howard was in the front CDH was 69-35. When in the back 30-27.
When Mattai was in the front WBL was 35-33. When in the back 23-66.

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 W C C C W
set 2 C C C C C
set 3 C C C C C
set 4 C C C C C

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3 4
CDH 3 16 16 13
WBL 2 0 0 1

Next up: tomorrow morning