Tournament Build Ups

#1 posting 11.8.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

Volleyball will be all over this weekend. Folks will have to make a choice between HS tournament, D2 Tournament, D3 Tournament, and the Gophers. So many games....So little time.
It is too bad we can't tivo the action.

STATE TOURNAMENT BUILD UP
AAA
Marshall faces a familiar foe Lakeville North in the quarterfinals. Marshall lost to LN in the finals of the Marshall tournament earlier in the fall. From the Marshall Independent.
AA
LeSueur-Henderson has made it to the big show. Here is their journey from the Mankato Free Press.
A
Minneota and Meadow Creek face each other in the quarters and both teams are veteran touranment squads. From the Marshall Independent.

D2/D3 TOURNAMENT BUILD UP
The StarTribune has a brief story on Concordia St. Paul's chances in the D2 North Central regional. They also run down the D3 regional tournament in Eau Claire.
One of the better match ups in the D2 North Central tournament will be the SW MN State vs Wayne State confrontation. It is their third matchup in three weeks. From the Marshall Independent.
A pair of sisters could be facing each other in the D3 tournament. The Dahls of Concordia Moorhead (and Willmar) may bump up against the Freiborgs of UW Eau Claire (Renville County West). From the West Central Tribune.

D1 INDEPENDENT TOURNAMENT BUILD UP
North Dakota State is hosting the D1 Independent tournament this weekend. six teams will be battling in Fargo.

NUMBERS
Elk River has taken a hit with their numbers the last few years with the opening of two schools Rogers and Zimmerman. Volleyball coach Pam Goethe talks about her frustrations with the system and what she is doing to turn it around. You will have to get through the football portion of the article. From the Elk River Star News.

JESSY JONES
The Gopher's middle hitter is featured in the MN Daily.

Next up: tomorrow morning

North Central & WIAC Honors, D2 & D3 Brackets

#2 posting 11.7.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MORE AWARDS/HONORS
I looked all morning for the Daktronics All North Central Region. Now I found it on the SW MN State site. Interesting that the Northern Sun had six of the seven spots on the first team. It was flip flopped with the North Central taking six of seven on the second team.

The WIAC named their all conference selections and Dana Alf, Platteville was named player of the year. Four Minnesota players were named to the first team:
Carly Freiborg, Renville Co West, Eau Claire
Andrea Geehan, St. Paul Como Park, River Falls
Kat Krtnick, Fridley, River Falls
Kate Thompson, Forest Lake, River Falls
Lindsey Mace, Hastings, River Falls was named to the defensive team.

TOURNAMENT BRACKETS
The NCAA D2 brackets are out. The North Central regionals are at Concordia St. Paul this weekend.

The NCAA D3 brackets are out and the Midwest regional will be at Eau Claire. Concordia Moorhead and St. Thomas advance from the MIAC. The WIAC sends Eau Claire, Whitewater, and Oshkosh.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Lucia, Braegelmann Honored

#1 posting 11.7.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

POLLS & AWARDS
The Gophers only dropped one spot in the AVCA poll after their loss at Michigan.

The North Central Conference has named their all conference team. Vicky Braegelmann, UM Duluth picked up the player of the year honor. Coach of the year horors went to Jim Boos, UM Duluth. The NCC also listed their Academic Team.
The last NCC weekly awards all went to Nebraska Omaha players: Ellen Thommes for offfense; Stacie Wemhoff on defense, and Katie Agnew for setting.

The North Central region has also come out. Erin Contons, SW MN State has been named for the second straight year. From the Marshall Independent.
Concordia St. Paul's Jessica Lucia was named player of the year for the second straight year, and she is joined on the squad with Kelsey Kyro, and Maggie McNamara. Megan Graham made the second team.

We have already posted about St. Cloud State and their season ending loss to South Dakota. Now here is the St. Cloud University Chronicle's story and take on the season.

HS NEWS
The Minnesota River is probably the toughest AA conference, and LeSueur-Henderson Dave Nixon is quoted in the Star Tribune about the battles in that conference. You will need to scroll past football information.

The Marshall Independent features key liberos that are headed to state: Shay Birath for Marshall; and Brooke Minnehan for Minneota.

There are some volleyball tidbits in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Lakeville North and Blaine are both showcased, you will need to scroll past other things.

HS ALL CONFERENCE LISTS
The Winona Daily News has the all conference lists for the Three Rivers, Southeast, and Dairyland conferences. Hannah Glor was named player in the Southeast.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Cowles Star Tribune Player of the Year

#3 posting 11.6.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

The StarTribune has come out with their all metro team in HS volleyball.
Hailey Cowles from Eden Prairie was named player of the year. Having seen her four times this year I can see the value in the selection. She was my player of the game in each of the four games I saw.
Here are the rest of the selections on the First Team and the second team. I only missed one player in my viewing this fall: outside hitter Ellie Duffy of Totino-Grace.
For the record the first team is solid and I have no quibbles.

Minnesota Gophers have three of the selections on the first team headed their way.

Next up: tomorrow morning

State Picks; Key Stats

#2 posting 11.6.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MN STATE TOURANMENT PREVIEW
AAA
The Lake has three entrants in this year's tournament and Chaska will be the favorite.
The Hawks open with Wayzata at 9 am, but Chaska already has a win over the Trojans in the Alexandria tournament. Both teams have strong fbso games. Pick Chaska
The other 9 am game has Moorhead squaring off with Eagan. Eagan beat Cretin-Derham Hall in the 3 finals, after losing to CDH late in October. Eagan is on a roll. Pick Eagan.
Marshall takes on Lakeville North in the 11 am game. Both teams saw each other in the Marshall tournament back in September. LN has a few more attack weapons than Marshall who features Amanda Beekman. Pick: Lakeville North
The other 11 game is Blaine and Hibbing. Hibbing has tons of state tournament experience, but Blaine survived the tough five game battle with Andover. Pick Blaine

Semis: Chaska and Lakeville North. In an all Lake Finals Pick: Chaska

Before the sections started a called 7 of the 8 here because I didn't pick anyone in 8.

AA
St. Cloud Cathedral opens with Jordan at 5 pm. Jordan looked very strong when I saw them at Apple Valley. Pick: Jordan
Pipestone faces mystery team Montevideo that has bee flying under the radar most of the year. Pipestone plays in the rough and tumble Southwest conference and most of their losses are to power teams during weekend tournament play. Pick: Pipestone, they have been there
Virginia tussles with LeSueur-Henderson in the 7 pm contest. LSH is the second Minnesota River team to make it to the big show. That is a very good conference as four teams were in the finals of their respective sections. Pick: LSH
and it is a shame the final game had to occur in the quarters but defending champ Lake of the Woods takes on perennial power Stewartville. LOW is without their coach in this postseason. How long can LOW keep producing key wins on the emotion of trying to win for a coach they feel has been too severely punished? Stewartville is a squad used to the big events. Pick Stewartville.

In the semis: Jordan; Stewartville. Finals: I like Jordan

My presections here slightly above .500 with 5 of 8 correct. The three that I stumbled on were 2, 3, and 8.

A
Central Christian plays Bertha-Hewitt in the 1 pm contest. Central Christian knows the feel of the bright lights, and plays a tougher schedule. Pick Central Christian
Meadow Creek takes on Minneota in probably the best match up in another unfortunate pairing early. Pick Minneota
Wheaton opens with Bethlehem Acadmey in the 3 pm game and BA has a rougher schedule to toughen them up for St. Paul. Pick BA
Climax-Fisher, the surprise team as a #4 seed faces Littlefork-Big Falls in the battle of the North. I am going with CF with momentum, and there losses have been avenged to Ada-Borup and Kittson Central. Their other two losses were to alphabet powers DGF and LOW in 2A.
In the semis Minneota, and BA. with Minneota taking the title.
I was taken to task in A with only 3 right picks in my presection calls. That should give all the out picks today reason to celebrate.

My question: when is seeding going to happen for the state tournament? Soccer and now basketball will seed the tournament. We seed the sections, why not the state? I want the two best teams to see each other on Saturday, not Thursday.

For those of you paying attention to the numbers I have been putting up this year--it is first ball side out % that points to the team that wins more often than not. If FBSO % is .600 or better the record is 16-4. three of those losses were to teams that had a higher fbso %. If your FBSO % is under .487 the overall record is 2-17.

The % of earned and allowed points don't really indicate anything. The top team with earned points % was Kennedy with .818 in their loss to Eden Prairie in the 6AAA semifinals.
What is more important is the raw numbers of points earned and allowed. If a team earns less than 21 points the record is 0-8.
If a team allows less than 16 points the record is 8-2.

These are numbers from the 27 games I have charted this year.

Next up: tomorrow morning with the regular news of the day

North Central Regional Set

#1 posting 11.6.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHER CHANCES
Minnesota's Big 10 title chances were derailed in Ann Arbor as the Gophers were ambushed by the Wolverines Saturday night. From the MN Daily. The headline says title chances nearly gone. I would say a snow flakes chance in a blast furnace.

Meredith Nelson did reach another career milestone with her 500th career block. It happened against Michigan.

NORTH CENTRAL REGIONAL
MSU Mankato made the North Central Region tournament with a 7th place finish in their poll. As a result they will open with #2 UM Duluth. SW MN State is #5 and will face a familiar Northern Sun rival #4 Wayne State. #1 Concordia St. Paul will host the event Thursday through Saturday. The way the brackets are set up it will be a North Central vs Northern Sun finale.

LATE HS SECTION RESULTS
Marshall's sweep of Hutchinson is now up on the Marshall Independent site. It is Marshall's 6th straight trip to the Excel Energy Center.

Pipestone beat Springfield. Yesterday the game story was from the Springfield angle. Today it is from the Pipestone side. It is two in a row for Pipestone. From the Worthington Daily Globe.

Minneota dropped SW Star in four to advance in 3A. From the Marshall Independent and the Worthington Daily Globe.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
KILLS
4 games
AA
Nicole Buysse, Pipestone 24 vs Springfield 3-1
Krystal Schwanke, Springfield 16 vs Pipestone 1-3
A
Alyssa Buysse, Minneota 17 vs SW Star 3-1
3 games
AAA
Amanda Beekman, Marshall 15 vs Hutchinson 3-0

Next up: My State picks, along with the stats that really matter later today.

Blaine/Andover Photos

#4 posting 11.5.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BLAINE/ANDOVER PHOTO EDITION
This is the second time I took the Olympus out to a game. I took tons of pictures, most of which ended up like this--an abstract art blur. I was sitting in the Blaine student section and their stomping may have had something to do with the blurs, but I think it is my rookie hand at these shots.
If you want a closer look, click on the photo.


#1 An abrstract art version of volleyball action

#2 Molly Kreklow about to make a set for Blaine

#3 A blur as Jessica Granquist hits the ball past of couple of Andover blockers

#4 Lindsey Baumgartner setting for Blaine in a pinch.

#5 both teams looking skyward tracking the ball.

#6 A Megan Carlson attack that is covered by Blaine

#7 Celebrating an Andover kill (probably Krista Erickson) with a Blaine player on the floor.

#8 Another Andover kill to the left side.

#9 Carlson ready to make a play

#10 Arriel Mewhorter with the afer effects of an attack

#11 A Baumgartner Kill

#12 Jackie Kelly setting one of her hitters, probably Granquist

#13 a Blaine dig (I think by Granquist)

Next up: tomorrow morning with a look at the state pairings and what to expect this week.

Eagan/Cretin-Derham Hall Photos

#3 posting 11.5.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

EAGAN/CRETIN-DERHAM HALL

The Photo edition.
These photos are from the 3AAA Championship on Friday night won by Eagan in five.
This is my first attempt at photos during a game. It is like a view from seat 3B. But it gives you an idea how things progressed. If you want a larger view of the photo, click on it.

#1 Eagan making a dig on a Laura Wagner hit.
#2 After effects of a Lauren Gibbemeyer Kill.


#3 Kelsey Sparks after a quick kill attempt
#4 the conversation between the officials when a point was taken from Cretin-Derham Hall and given to Eagan. CDH was still the winner in that first frame. The question of what to do took over 7 minutes to decide.


#5 A blurry Gibbemeyer kill. You can barely see the ball on the back side of the blockers heads.
#6 Megan Stinchfield setting the ball.


#7 Meghan McComas hitting into the Eagan block.
#8 Cretin celebration


#9 McComas making a dig
#10 Attempted block on Gibbemeyer

#11 That may be Katie Hofstad with the attack for Eagan.

#12 Katie Joyce sets up Kelsey Sparks for a quick kill.

Next up: photos of the Blaine/Andover game

Champs Crowned in 21 Sections

#2 posting 11.5.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

The section finals are now over and the field is set for the state tournament starting Thursday in the St. Paul Xcel Energy Center.

AAA
Sweeps were in order with four 3 & outs. The exception was the Blaine and Eagan games (the games I attended). Lakeville North and Eagan were the only non #1 teams to move on.
1
Lakeville North took revenge on Owatonna in a sweep. LN lost to Owatonna in a 2-1 game in LN's own tournament on October 7.
2
Marshall also swept past Hutchinson. I am sure the Marshall Independent will have the story tomorrow. They don't publish on Sunday.
4
Blaine won in five over Andover. I reported on that last night
6
Chaska had their own sweep revenge against Eden Prairie. Chaska lost to EP back on September 19 3-1. From the Chaska Herald, also the StarTribune has a story.
8
Moorhead had a sweep over Rocori to move on to state. Moorhead won 8AAA last yearFrom the Fargo Forum.

AA
Two lower seeds have punched their tickets to the state tournament: #2 LeSueur-Henderson and #3 Pipestone both advanced.
1
Stewartville kept their State tournament appointment with a sweep over Wabasha-Kellogg. It is Stewartville's 17 trip in the last 20 years. From the Winona Daily News.
2
LeSueur-Henderson took a tight sweep over Minnesota River rival Montgomery-Lonsdale.
3
Pipestone went five with Springfield in a battle between non #1 seeds. From the New Ulm Journal.
4
Jordan ripped Concordia Roseville in three
5
St. Cloud Cathedral took Esko in four. Anna Zyvoloski pounded 28 kills for SCC. From the St. Cloud Times.
6
Montevideo beat BBE in four
7
Virginia moved on with a four game over Pine River-Backus
8
Lake of the Woods, without coach Bitter, has a chance to defend their title with a sweep over Wadena-Deer Creek. From the Fargo Forum, and the Grand Forks Herald.

A
Climax-Fisher, a four seed, crashes the A party along with a pair of #2s Central Christian and Meadow Creek.
1
Bethlehem Academy took Mabel-Canton in three. BA has beaten MC in the section finals five straight years. The Winona Daily News has the story.
2
Central MN Christian beat Sleepy Eye St. Mary's in four. SESM won the first game, but CMC took the rest. From the New Ulm Journal.
3
Minneota beat SW Star in four. More when the Marshall Independent and Worthington Daily Globe publish tomorrow.
4
Meadow Creek had a revenge win over SW Chistian (Chaska) with a four game victory. From the Chaska Herald.
5
Bertha-Hewitt swept Hill City
6
Wheaton had no problems in a sweep over Ulen-Hitterdal. You will get the scores, nothing more from the Fargo Fourm.
7
Littlefork-Big Falls took out Cook in four
8
Climax-Fisher stopped Kittson Central in four. CF is the lowest seed to make the tournament as a four seed. From the Fargo Forum, and GF Herald.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
4 games
AA
Nina Lindquist, St. Cloud Cathedral 47 vs Esko 3-1
A
Korynta, Climax-Fisher 49 vs Kittson Central 3-1
Blomquist, Kittson Central 44 vs Climax-Fisher 1-3

KILLS
4 games
AA
Anna Zyvoloski, St. Cloud Cathedral 28 vs Esko 3-1
Amber Ryan, Esko 20 vs St. Cloud Cathedral 1-3
A
Kacie Fortmann, Climax-Fisher 25 vs Kittson Central 3-1
Whitney Langen, Kittson Central 20 vs Climax-Fisher 1-3

Next up: I will post the photos from the Eagan/Cretin and Blaine/Andover games. Tomorrow I will look back at my section picks and then jump back in the water with my picks for the state.

Two Concordia Championships

#1 posting 11.5.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MINNESOTA FALL IN MICHIGAN
Minnesota stubbed their toe at Michigan Saturday night and now will have a difficult time holding on to second place in the Big 10. Michigan's conference record is only 5-9.
Minnesota has two tough road games at Wisconsin and Purdue coming up. It would take a epic meltdown by Penn State, which I don't see happening, for the Gophers to have a chance for the Big 10 title.

Wisconsin did not overlook Michigan State and picked up the four game win to move into a second place tie with Minnesota.

North Dakota State won over South Dakota State in a sweep at Brookings. It was NDSU's first win in over 10 games against their neighbor to the south. Kristie Klusaw, SDSU's setter reached her 4000 assists.
NDSU will host the D1 independent tournament next weekend.

D2 ACTION
NORTH CENTRAL
Augustana beat MSU Mankato in five in their North Central finale.

UM Duluth swept North Dakota to close out the regular season.

NORTHERN SUN
Concordia St. Paul beat Wayne State in four for the NSIC title. It is CSP's third straight NSIC Championship. CSP has won 18 matches in a row and 62 in the NSIC.

D3 ACTION
MIAC CHAMPIONSHIP
#1 Concordia Moorhead trailed 2-1, but came back to claim the MIAC title in a 3-2 win over #6 seed St. Benedict.

WIAC CHAMPIONSHIP
Whitewater grabbed the WIAC title over #1 Eau Claire. Whitewater now moves on to the NCAA tournament.

NAIA
UMAC CHAMPIONSHIP
St. Scholastica took home the title with a five game marathon with Martin Luther.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
D2
Stef Sandstrom, MSU Mankato 77 vs Augustana 2-3
Lisa Hoegh, Augustana 69 vs MSU Mankato 3-2
4 games
D2
Maggie McNamara, Concordia St. Paul 70 vs Wayne State 3-1
Brittany Coleman, Wayne State 51 vs Concordia St. Paul 1-3
D3
Kate Lazotte, Whitewater 48 vs Eau Claire 3-1
3 games
D1
Mattie Johnson, North Dakota State 50 vs South Dakota State 3-0
D2
Katie Gangelhoff, UM Duluth 48 vs North Dakota 3-0

DIGS
5 games
D2
Cassie Wolpern, MSU Mankato 25 vs Augustana 2-3
Abby Schmidt, Augustana 24 vs MSU Mankato 3-2
Lisa Rohret, MSU Mankato 23 vs Augustana 2-3
D3
Anna Walden, Concordia Moorhead 37 vs St. Benedict 3-2
Michelle Honek, Concordia Moorhead 26 vs St. Benedict 3-2
Laura Zwach, St. Benedict 26 vs Concordia Moorhead 2-3
Emma Jaynes, St. Benedict 25 vs Concordia Moorhead 2-3
4 games
D2
Megan Graham, Concordia St. Paul 22 vs Wayne State 3-1
Laura Dolezal, Wayne State 20 vs Concordia St. Paul 1-3
D3
Shanna Berger, Eau Claire 22 vs Whitewater 1-3
3 games
D2
Chelsea Meierotto, UM Duluth 24 vs North Dakota 3-0

KILLS
5 games
D2
Terrin Post, Augustana 27 vs MSU Mankato 3-2
Cassie Wolpern, MSU Mankato 26 vs Augustana 2-3
D3
Danielle Dahl, Concordia Moorhead 31 vs St. Benedict 3-2
4 games
D2
Emily Schroeder, Wayne State 22 vs Concordia St. Paul 1-3
Kelsey Kyro, Concordia St. Paul 20 vs Wayne State 3-1

Next up: The HS Section finals from last night.

Out & About: Blaine/Andover

#2 or is it 3? posting 11.4.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

7AAA FINALS
BLAINE 3, ANDOVER 2
25-17, 20-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-8

Blaine won a five game battle with their neighbor & rival from the Northwest Suburban Andover. The Kelly family was split with daughter Jackie of Blaine taking home bragging rights. Mom Lisa is an assistant at Andover. Both teams put up great rallies, but Blaine had overall better net play and more weapons to advance to the state. They open with Hibbing on Thursday at 11 am at the Excel Center.

Andover started off with the lead due to Blaine hitting/passing errors 2-0, but their last lead was at 3-2. With Kristin Cook serving the Bengals grabbed the lead for good at 5-4. Both ot the points on Cook's serve were the result of Andover net violations. Of the first nine Blaine serves, six players delivered points. There was never a big run at this stage, but Blaine started to put distance between themselves and Andover. At 17-12 with Andover took a time out. They got the ball back and cut the lead to 18-16 after a Megan Carlson kill. Lindsey Baumgartner got a tip kill for Blaine to get the ball back. Jessica Granquist served up five straight point to put them on the verge 24-16. Cook had two kills in the run. A missed serve gave it back to Andover. Baumgartner ended the first frame with a quick kill.

Andover shook off the first game blues and grabbed a 5-2 lead in game two. Krista Erickson got involved in the scoring this game as she was shut out of scoring in game one. Blaine tied it up, the last time at six, but after a missed Blaine serve, Carlson delivered an ace and Andover never trailed again. Blaine burned a time out at 11-7 after an ace by Heidi Larsen. Lauren Cipperly had three straight points to push the lead to 16-10. Blaine had a run left too. Arriel Mewhorter served up five points and cut the Andover lead 18-17. Andover took a time out at 18-16, but got the ball back one serve later on a Granquist hitting error. Sarah Kurtovich then served up three points for Andover to make it 22-17. Blaine took their second time out during the run. The second game closed out with six straight side outs and Andover had tied the contest. Erickson had five points in this frame.

In the first seven points in game three four points were the result of missed serves. Game three started to break Blaine's way as they scored at least one point on seven straight serves. Andover couldn't get their first ball sideout game rolling in this frame. Andover took the first time out at 15-9. Blaine had runs of three twice, but it was the small double points (8 times) that spelled the end for Andover, that and their FBSO % of .167. Even so, Andover did inch back into the contest with their own runs. Blaine took the first time out at 21-17 during Carlson's serve. They had to do another time out at 24-21 after a block by Cipperly on a Mewhorter slide kill attempt. Mewhorter did deliver point 25 on the left side directly off the serve.

Blaine led 2-0, but that was the last lead they held in game four. Andover built up a 7-3 lead after Erickson's serve. Carlson delivered two kills in the run of four. Andover built the lead to 16-9. Cook delivered two aces, including a net hugger to make it 16-12. The closest Blaine got in game four was 18-15 after a Granquist kill. Andover finished up with a 7-2 run. Cipperly ended it with a tip kill.

Blaine started off with two points on a dump by Kelly and then a hitting error by Andover. Again missed serves reared their head with three straight missed. Both teams were if fbso mode with five straight changes of possession. The game broke on Kreklow's serve as Baumgartner delivered two straight blocks. Andover took the first time out at 7-3. That did stop the Blaine run and two Blaine errors made it 7-5. The Bengals got the ball back on a Granquist kill off the block. A passing error made it 9-5 Blaine. Cipperly got a kill to get the ball back, but Larsen's serve never made it over the net. Baumgartner delivered three points on her serve. This time it was Mewhorter delivering two blocks in the run. The night ended on four straight side outs. Erickson had the two kills for Andover, and Mewhorter had points 14 and 15, the game winner.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
BLAINE
1 Jackie Kelly, S, 5-8, 2007, 0-0.5-3---3.5
2 Kristin Cook, OH, 5-10, 2007, 3-0.5-4--7.5
3 Arriel Mewhorter, MH, 6-0, 2009, 0-3-18---21
4 Molly Kreklow, S, 5-11, 2010, 0-1-2--3
5 Jessica Granquist, OH, 5-7, 2008, 0-0-12---12
6 Lindsey Baumgartner, MH, 5-11, 2007 0-5-9---14
Totals: 3-10-48---61 points, 41 points on Andover errors

ANDOVER
1 Amy Olson, S, 5-5, 2007, 0-0-0----0
1fr Chayna Wold, RH, 5-9, 2007 0-0-1---1
2 Lauren Cipperly, OH, 5-9, 2009, 2-1-7---10
3 Krista Erickson, MH, 5-10, 2007, 0-2-13---15
4 Sarah Kurtovich, S, 5-7, 2009, 0-0-0----0
4fr Samantha Neunsinger, RH, 5-10, 2007, 0-0-0---0
5 Megan Carlson, OH, 5-9, 2008, 1-1-14---16
6 Heidi Larson, L, 5-4, 2007 1-0-0----1
6fr Deena Ewert, MH, 6-1, 2008, 0-3-4---7
Totals: 4-7-39----50 points, 46 points on Blaine errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Lindsey Baumgartner for two key blocks that accelerated the momentum in game five.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Blaine 29/56--.519; 102; .598; .479
Andover 25/54---.463; 96; .521; .402
Both teams were inconsistent in their fbso. For Blaine it was .606 in the games they won, .391 in the two losses. Andover was no different. They were even better when winning at .667; only .300 in the losses. Blaine had quicker feet, played bigger at the net, and had more attack options. Andover didn't get Erickson involved early, had to modify their attack by setting deeper off the net, and had no real options on the right side.

ROTATION POINTS
BLAINE
1 Kelly 19-20 .487
2 Cook 18-16 .529
3 Mewhorter 19-15 .559
4 Kreklow 15-18 .455
5 Granquist 17-13 .567
6 Baumgartner 14-14 .500
Totals: 102-96 .515

ANDOVER
1 Olson 16-18 .471
2 Cipperly 19-19 .500
3 Erickson 17-19 .472
4 Kurtovich/Neunsinger 15-15 .500
5 Carlson 18-17 .514
6 Larsen 12-14 .462
Totals 96-102 .485

As you can see no one rotation had a great advantage. It was interesting that the best rotation and worst rotation were right next to each other on the Blaine side.

I will see if my photos took tonight. If it worked, I will post them tomorrow. I also have photos of the Eagan/Cretin game.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Eagan/Cretin-Derham Hall, Part 2

#5 posting 11.3.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

3AAA Finals
EAGAN 3, CRETIN-DERHAM HALL 2
23-25*, 25-16, 18-25, 25-13, 15-9

Eagan came back from a 2-1 deficit to make the state tournament for the first time since 2003. Eagan has now won 3AAA six times. This game also marked the end of Lauren Gibbemeyer’s stellar HS career. She took the loss hard, but she will now move on to the larger stage of the Gophers.

Cretin-Derham Hall started off the game with three straight scores off their serves and three straight first ball side outs. As a result CDH led 6-3. They built the lead to 14-10 but then Eagan went on a 7-1 run to take the lead 16-15. Kelsey Sparks had two kills and a block in the run. CDH then got their FBSO game back and led 22-19 when Eagan took a time out. That is when controversy erupted. My black and red pen and the scoreboard had 22-19, but the book apparently did not. After five minutes it was decided Eagan was to get a point that rightfully belonged to CDH. The Raiders were upset and lost the next two points as Eagan took a 22-21 lead. CDH then took time out and got the side out with an Eagan hitting error. Lauren Wagner provided two kills during Meghan McComas’ serve to give the lead back to CDH 24-22. Sparks got the side out with a push kill and Wagner returned the favor with a kill from the right side to give CDH a 25-23, or is it 26-22 win.

Eagan dominated game two as CDH could only manage to get two fbso in the game. Five straight Eagan servers racked up points the score was 14-8 after CDH got their first side out. The biggest run came on Sarah Schwanz’ serve with three points. CDH took their second time out at 17-9. Eagan closed to 24-13, but Wagner staved off the final point with a side out kill. Two more CDH points on Mara Clements serve was enough for Eagan to take a time out. After the break CDH had a double contact to finish the game.

CDH got their fbso game back after the 2/10 second game. They checked in at 8/13 in this game and that helped in picking up the win. Eagan, on the other hand, could not get the fbso for servers two through six. The result was CDH riding an 18-9 lead. Eagan took their first time out at 12-5 and they did get the ball back, but never really challenged for the game. Both teams traded the ball with sideouts coming nine straight times. The second Eagan time out came during this stretch with the score 21-13. The third game ended on a fbso by a Gibbemeyer smash.

Eagan controlled the ball, and CDH didn’t in game four. Kelsey Ammerman got things off for Eagan with four straight points including two aces. Eagan’s serving strategy was to work away from the middle and that limited the quantity and quality of the CDH attack game. It also limited Gibbemeyer’s impact on the game. She only was able to deliver four points in the CDH column this game after coming up with 10, 8, 8 points in the first three games. Runs, runs and more runs caused this game to be over quickly. Eagan had runs of six, five and four. CDH was caught twice in this game in rotation errors. They had three for the game. Laurel Sanford scored the last three points for Eagan with kills.

Eagan got the serve and again Sanford added to her consecutive point total with a block. Both teams traded side outs when the dam broke wide open for Eagan. On Bohannon’s serve they added four points to their margin to make it 7-2. She had an ace in the run and Sparks had a kill and a block. Every time Eagan did something right the energy picked up and surged through the whole team. On Katie Joyce’s serve she added another five points to make it 13-4. The inevitable was postponed by three pointw on Rachel Sievers serve. Eagan did take a time out at 13-7, but didn’t get the ball back for one more serve. The game ended on a net violation as CDH went up to block an Eagan attack.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
EAGAN
1 Kelsey Ammerman, DS, 5-8, 2008 2-0-0---2
1fr Sarah Schwanz, RH, 5-10, 2007 1-0-9---10
2 Malia Paleafei, OH, 5-7, 2008 0-0-7----7
3 Taylor Bohannon, L, 5-6, 2008 2-0-1---3
3fr Laurel Sanford, MH, 6-0, 2008 0-3-13---16
4 Katie Joyce, S, 5-9, 2008 1-0-2----3
5 Leah Ehret, DS, 5-6, 2008 0-0-0---0
5fr Kathryn Kemp, OH, 5-11, 2007 0-1-2---3
5fr Katie Hofstad, OH, 5-10, 2008 0-1-8---9
6fr Kelsey Sparks, MH, 5-10, 2008 0-3-10---13
Totals: 6-8-52---66 points, 39 points on CDH errors

CRETIN-DERHAM HALL
1 Megan Barrett, DS, 5-4, 2007 0-0-0---0
1fr Holly Benedict, OH, 5-8, 2008 0-0-5---5
2 Molly Morrissey, S, 5-6, 2007 2-0-0----2
2fr Nikki Abel, RH, 5-9, 2007 0-0-0---0
2fr Rachel Schloesser, RH, 5-10, 2008 0-0-0----0
3 Lauren Gibbemeyer, MH, 6-2, 2007 0-5-27---32
4 Meghan McComas, OH, 5-10, 2007 0-0-4---4
5br Rachel Sievers, S, 5-6, 2007 0-0-0---0
5br g2 Mara Clements, S, 5-6, 2007 1-0-0----1
5fr Megan Stinchfield, RH, 6-1, 2008 0-0-3---3
6fr Lauren Wagner, MH, 6-1, 2007 0-1-14----15
6br Kayla Bird, L, 5-3, 2008 0-0-0----0
Totals: 3-6-53---62 points; 27 points on Eagan errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Lauren Gibbemeyer even if her team lost she was the best player on the floor. Eagan did a good job of preventing her from dominating in games four and five, but Eagan had a more solid unit.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Eagan 25/51---.490; 105; .629; .303
Cretin-Derham Hall 24/52---.462; 89; .697; .371
Here is the telling stat of the game: For fbso CDH when winning was .655; when they lost it was .217. For Eagan they were more consistent. In wins it was .500; in the losses it was .483. But Eagan will have to sharpen that up in the state tournament if they want to advance.

ROTATION POINTS
EAGAN
1 Ammerman 23-17 .575
2 Paleafei 17-16 .515
3 Bohannon 19-16 .543
4 Joyce 18-18 .500
5 Ehret 18-12 .600
6 Sparks 10-10 .500

CRETIN-DERHAM HALL
1 Barrett 16-19 .457
2 Morrissey 18-17 .514
3 Gibbemeyer 15-19 .441
4 McComas 14-20 .412
5 Sievers/Clements 15-19 .441
6 Wagner 11-10 .524

No Eagan rotation was below .500, while only two rotations were north of .500 for CDH. The 3-5 rotations that ruled in the Woodbury game did not deliver the lofty .700 numbers in this contest.

Next up: later tonight with another Out & About, that is if blogger is working. It has been crazy trying to get this story posted.

Northern Sun Fnals Set

#1 posting 11.4.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS SWEEP MICHIGAN STATE
Minnesota didn't let Michigan State hang around as they did in Minneapolis for five games. They got the job done in three this time.
Minnesota's chances for a tie in the conference with Penn State were dampened by PSU's sweep of Purdue. PSU's remaining games that may be a challenge include at Ohio State. Northwestern goes to Penn State late.

Wisconsin also used brooms on Michigan.

NORTHERN SUN TOURNAMENT
Both the top seeds advnace, but it wasn't easy.
#2 Wayne State finished #3 SW MN State in five in the NSIC semifinals. Wayne State won the first two games, only to see SW MN State tie it up. Erin Contons had a 30/30 match with kills & digs for SW MN State. From the Marshall Independent.
#1 Concordia St. Paul had to sweat out two point margins in their sweep of Northern State.

NORTH CENTRAL ACTION
South Dakota won their first game of the year in their home finale with a five gamer with St. Cloud State. USD's Amber Kobus became the single season dig leader with 615 for the year.

WIAC TOURNAMENT
Eau Claire advanced to the finals of the WIAC tournament with four game win over River Falls. They will face Whitewater as they beat Platteville in five. Here is more with the WIAC review of the day.

NCCAA TOURNAMENT
Northwestern, MN is hosting the event. The hosts lost twice yesterday twice in sweeps to Palm Beach Atlantic and Trinity International. That puts Northwestern's pool record at 1-3.

JUCO TOURNAMENT
Madison Area Tech dropped MSCTC Fergus Falls 3-1 at Ridgewater in the Region 13 Tournament. From the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.

COACHING NEWS
Walt Weaver is retiring at Apple Valley as was stated yesterday. Here is the StarTribune's summary of Weaver's stellar career at AV.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
D2
Sara Graf, SW MN State 50 vs Wayne State 2-3
Brittany Coleman, Wayne State 49 vs SW MN State 3-2
Sierra Nowak, St. Cloud State 46 vs South Dakota 2-3
D3
Kate Lazotte, Whitewater 61 vs Platteville 3-2
Kelly Laschinger, Platteville 54 vs Whitewater 2-3
4 games
D3
Carly Freiborg, Eau Claire 48 vs River Falls 3-1
3 games
D2
Maggie McNamara, Concordia St. Paul 55 vs Northern State 3-0

DIGS
5 games
D2
Erin Contons, SW MN State 31 vs Wayne State 2-3
Sarah Quiram, SW MN State 29 vs Wayne State 2-3
Laura Dolezal, Wayne State 28 vs SW MN State 3-2
Jamie Vander Kooi, South Dakota 20 vs St. Cloud State 3-2
4 games
D3
Rachel Chapman, Platteville 26 vs Whitewater 2-3
Kristina Conlin, Whitewater 24 vs Platteville 3-2
Lindsey Mace. River Falls 20 vs Eau Claire 1-3
JUCO
Lisa Gorr, Fergus Falls 25 vs Madison 1-3
Nikki Kneisl, Fergus Falls 20 vs Madison 1-3
3 games
D2
Melanie Perez, Northern State 23 vs Concordia St. Paul 0-3

KILLS
5 games
D2
Erin Contons, SW MN State 30 vs Wayne State 2-3
Ashley Gross, South Dakota 24 vs St. Cloud State 3-2
Michelle Eckhardt, Wayne State 21 vs SW MN State 3-2
D3
Rachel Chapman, Platteville 20 vs Whitewater 2-3
Carley Polk, Whitewater 20 vs Platteville 3-2
4 games
JUCO
Nikki Kneisl, Fergus Falls 20 vs Madison 1-3
3 games
d2
Jessica Lucia, Concordia St. Paul 23 vs Northern State 3-0

Next up: later today. I hope to have the Eagan/Cretin game up again. there have been problems with blogger again.

Out & About: Eagan/Cretin-Derham Hall

#5 posting 11.3.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

3AAA Finals
EAGAN 3, CRETIN-DERHAM HALL 2
23-25*, 25-16, 18-25, 25-13, 15-9

numbers and story to follow

Next up: numbers

Weaver Retires; Climax-Fisher Rolls On

#4 posting 11.3.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

WEAVER TO RETIRE
Walt Weaver has coached his last Apple Valley game. The 31 year veteran had a career record of 656-196-1. AV has only known Weaver as its volleyball coach. 20 players played D1 ball, and 20 played D2. From the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

A ACTION
#4 Climax-Fisher moved on in 8A as the lowest seed left standing. They gave Ada-Bourp their second loss of the year in four.

1
Bethlehem Academy swept Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton in the west side of the bracket, while Mabel-Canton knocked off Goodhue in four in the east.

2
#2 N Central Christian rolled #5 N Cedar Mountain-Comfrey in the north in three. From the West Central Tribune and the NewUlm Journal.
#1 Sleepy Eye St. Mary's crunched #2 Nicollet in a sweep. From the New Ulm Journal and Mankato Free Press.

3
Minneota slammed the door in three on Lakeview in the north. From the Marshall Independent.
In the south SW Star had a five game tussle with Fulda to get to the Section finals. Fulda led 2-1. The fifth game went down to the wire with SW Star eeking out a 15-13 win. From the Worthington Daily Globe.

4
#2N Meadow Creek finished off #1N Heritage Christian in three.
#1S SW Christian (Chaska) beat New Life in four. This will set up a rematch from the regular season that SWC won in five.

8
#4 Climax-Fisher stopped Ada-Borup in four. In the Fargo Forum with video from WDAY.
#1 Kittson Central used five games to dodge Warren-Alvarado-Oslo.
Both games in the Grand Forks Herald.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
Dana Blomquist, Kittson Cental 45 vs WAO 3-2
4 games
Kelli Smart, Ada-Borup 45 vs Climax-Fisher 1-3
3 games
Hayley Hennen, Minneota 38 vs Lakeview 3-0

KILLS
5 games
Rachel Noel, Kittson Central 20 vs WAO 3-2
Whitney Langen, Kittson Central 17 vs WAO 3-2
Kaitlyn Kramer, Fulda 16 vs SW Star 2-3
4 games
Kari Strand, Ada-Borup 20 vs Climax-Fisher 1-3
3 games
Claire Kopfmann, Minneota 19 vs Lakeview 3-0
Crissi Schewe, Sleepy Eye St. Mary's 15 vs Nicollet 3-0

Next up: later tonight with another Out & About

Jordan Survives Mayer Lutheran

#3 posting 11.3.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AA ACTION
Concordia Roseville, a #4 seed in their half of the 4AA bracket is still alive in the post season. Another lower seed is still fighting for a state berth: #3 Pipestone in 3AA.

1
#1 East Wabaha-Kellogg beat Caledonia in four in the east half of the section.

In west #1 Stewartville swept Byron. Byron battled in the first game 25-20 until Stewartville kicked it into high gear and take the next two games 25-12, 25-13. Although the Bears passed better on serve receive than they did in their last meeting a month ago, Stewartville found other ways to out score Byron. The Tigers had a block that seemed to be a brick wall for our outside hitters tonight.
Jill Storlie had 8 kills , 6 digs and 3 ace blocks, Racquel Reker had 6 kills and 9 digs, Ashley Pyfferoen had 4 kills and 6 digs, and Nicole Koester had 3 kills and 6 digs. Steph Vosberg had 11 set assists and 5 digs, and Brittlyn Olson had 9 set assists. Byron finished their season with an overall record of 23-6.

2
On the east side #1 Montgomery-Lonsdale ended the cinderella story for #7 Kenyon-Wanamingo in three.
In the west side of the bracket #2 LeSueur-Henderson swept #1 Belle Plaine. The second game did go extra points at 28-26. From the Mankato Free Press.

3
#3 Pipestone downed Southwest conference rival #4 Jackson County Central in four. You will find a recap at the tail end of the 3A story on SW Star in the Worthington Daily Globe.
#2 Springfield surprised GFW in four. Springfield lost the first game in the match. GFW had two wins during the year over Tomahawk rival Springfield. From the New Ulm Journal

4
#4 Concordia Roseville knocked off #3 Minnehaha in three on the east side.
#1 Jordan survived a five gamer with #2 Mayer Lutheran. Jordan trailed 2-0 before slamming the door in the next three games.

5
Esko beat Polar rival Carlton in four. They will face St. Cloud Cathedral for the right to go to State.

6
BBE beat Sauk Centre in four. They will defend their section title on Saturday.
Montevideo also won in four over MACCRAY. In was Montevideo's 23 win in a row. From the West Central Tribune.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
4 games
Ashley Weatherly, Pipestone 39 vs Jackson County Central 3-1

DIGS
4 games
Emily Roelike. BBE 22 vs Sauk Centre 3-1
Tiffany Wilhelmi, Springfield 21 vs GFW 3-1
3 games
Nicole Neumann, LeSueur-Henderson 27 vs Belle Plaine 3-0

KILLS
4 games
Krystal Schwanke, Springfield 30 vs GFW 3-1
Amber Ryan, Esko 21 vs Carlton 3-1
Nicole Buysse, Pipestone 18 vs Jackson County Central 3-1
Kari Caspers, MACCRAY 18 vs Montevideo 1-3
Amber Bloom, Carlton 16 vs Esko 1-3
April Hansen, BBE 16 vs Sauk Centre 3-1
Shanna Schmiesing, Sauk Centre 16 vs BBE 1-3

Thanks to all the readers that help without with information to make this the first & last source for volleyball news. If you have some information, send it along.

Next up: A section results

Hibbing To State, Rocori Resurrection

#2 posting 11.3.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AAA ACTION
Here is the AAA section results from last night. Most games were won by the top seed. The exception was in the 8AAA semis where Rocori came back from a 2-0 hole to advance to the 8AAA finals.

2
Hutchinson beat Delano in four and will face Marshall in the championship. Marshall swept Waconia as they lowered their points allowed each game.
5
Wayzata moved on to state with a sweep over St. Michael-Albertville. Check on last night's story.
7
Hibbing also moved on with a sweep over Forest Lake. Alia Cook came off the bench to propel Hibbing to state. From the Duluth News Tribune.
8
Moorhead beat Alexandria in a sweep to move to the 8AAA finals. From the Fargo Forum.
Joining them will be Rocori who went the distance with #1S Sauk Rapids in a five gamer. #2S Rocori trailed 2-0 in the match before their comeback. The fifth game was a 15-13 nailbiter. From the St. Cloud Times.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
Carina Fesenmaier, Sauk Rapids 46 vs Rocori 2-3

KILLS
5 games
Amy Pederson, Sauk Rapids 21 vs Rocori 2-3
3 games
Amanda Beekman, Marshall 21 vs Waconia 3-0

Next up: AA action from last night

St. Benedict Moves on in MIAC

#1 posting 11.3.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS ON MICHIGAN ROAD TRIP
The Minnesota Gophers travel to Michigan this weekend and the MN daily has a preview of the upcoming battles with the Spartans and Wolverines.

If you like tournaments this is the time of year for you.

NORTHERN SUN TOURNAMENT
SW MN State swept Winona State to open the NSIC tournament. SW MN State beat Winona State in five a week ago. From the Marshall Independent.
Concordia St. Paul got the brooms out for Bemidji State. It was CSP's 60th straight win over NSIC team. Bemidji State ends the season at 7-25.
Wayne State also ran the table against UM Crookston.
#5 Northern State beat #4 MSU Moorhead in five. It was the only contest to go past three. Northern trailed 2-1. The Forum also has the recap of the action.
In today's action Concordia St. Paul faces Northern State, while SW MN State battle Wayne State.

MIAC SEMIFINALS
#6 St. Benedict upset #2 Gustavus in four.
#1 Concordia Moorhead advanced to the finals with a sweep of #4 St. Thomas. the Fargo Forum also has a story, and WDAY has video.
Concordia Moorhead will now face St. Ben's on Saturday in Moorhead.

NCCAA TOURNAMENT
Northwestern, MN is hosting the NCCAA tournament. Yesterday they split in their matches. They lost to Mount Vernon Nazarene in three and beat Simpson, CA in four in pool play.

HONORS
The North Central Conference has named their academic all conference team. MSU Mankato had three players make the list: Megan Stroud, Mandy Reuter, and Cassie Wolpern.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
D2
Kellie Heier, Northern State 66 vs MSU Moorhead 3-2
Julie Vancura, MSU Moorhead 58 vs Northern State 2-3
4 games
D3
Beth Hanson, St. Benedict 54 vs Gustavus 3-1
Bridget Burtzel, Gustavus 48 vs St. Benedict 1-3

DIGS
5 games
D2
Calla Oftedahl, MSU Moorhead 37 vs Northern State 2-3
Melanie Perez, Northern State 34 vs MSU Moorhead 3-2
Julie Vancura, MSU Moorhead 30 vs Northern State 2-3
Emily Knaeble, Northern State 24 vs MSU Moorhead 3-2
4 games
D3
Laura Zwach, St. Benedict 39 vs Gustavus 3-1
Emily Klein, Gustavus 30 vs St. Benedict 1-3
Emma Jaynes, St. Benedict 24 vs Gustavus 3-1
Jessica Plemel, Gustavus 20 vs St. Benedict 1-3
3 games
D3
Katie Kremer, St. Thomas 28 vs Concordia Moorhead 0-3
Anna Walden, Concordia Moorhead 28 vs St. Thomas 3-0
Angie Bonde, Concordia Moorhead 23 vs St. Thomas 3-0

KILLS
5 games
D2
Odemaris Diaz, Northern State 24 vs MSU Moorhead 3-2
Kelsey Aden, Northern State 22 vs MSU Moorhead 3-2

Next up: HS Section results

Out & About: Wayzata/St. Michael-Albertville

#2 posting 11.2.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

5AAA FINALS
Wayzata 3, St. Michael-Albertville 0
25-21, 25-16, 25-18

Wayzata became the first school to punch their ticket to the state tournament as they won their second 5AAA title in three years with a sweep of St. Michael-Albertville. It was STMA's second straight second place finish. Wayzata controlled the net with 6 blocks for points that altered STMA's attack plan.

Wayzata led early and was only tied at one. Wayzata never unleashed a big run, but did manage to squeeze a point off three straight serves to build up a lead, while they opened the game with five straight first ball sideouts. On Lauren Baufield's second service Wayzata had their biggest run of the first game with two points. STMA took their first time out at 15-9 at this point. Kayla Miedema got the ball back for STMA on the side out. But the Knights never could get traction on the offensive end because they missed six serves in the first frame. STMA missed five on the initial serve, so Wayzata didn't have to exert themselves to get the side out. The only STMA server to produce was Rachel Knutsen. She scored one point on her first service, and then had three more in her second time behind the end line. She cut the lead to 18-15 with two STMA kills and a hitting error and Wayzata took a time out. Tia Gaffen had a block for the side out for Wayzata. The Trojans did go up 23-17 when STMA took their last time out. STMA then had three straight points to close to 23-20. Natalie Dick served up two points, but missed her serve to make it 24-20. Two side outs ended the first game with Meghan Ellis putting up a block to end it.

Wayzata took a 9-4 lead early with points 7-9 coming on kills from Ellis. Baufield was serving at the time and picked up five points from behing the line. STMA took a time out and got back in the game. Regan Englund got the side out on a kill. STMA had two surges with a run of three and another of four. Whitney Rathburn, after a ball handling violation for a side out, served up three points for STMA to cut the Wayzata margin to 17-15. Wayzata burned their first time out at that point. After the time out Baufield sided out with a kill and then served up four straight to make it 22-15. STMA did take a time out a t 20-15, but did not get the ball until Baufield missed a serve. An Ellis kill brought the ball back and two STMA errors ended game two 25-16.

Wayzata controlled the game early again with a 5-1 push early with Julie Droegemueller serving up three points including two aces. STMA was forced to take a time out at that point. Another big run came on Hannah Parks' serve. She delivered five points from the line with three kills by Ellis (1) and Jessie Lasher (2). STMA burned their second time out at 15-6. One change STMA made in game three was putting Maria Berning in on the left side. She responded with five kills in this game. STMA did cut the margin to 22-17 with Rachel Knutsen delivering two points off her serve to make it 22-17. Gaffen had a kill to get the side out, and she also got point 24 on another side out, this time a tip kill. Wayzata won the championship with Lasher serving and STMA producing a passing error.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
WAYZATA
1 Holly Dale, S, 5-5, 2007, 0-0-0---0
2 Jessie Lasher, OH, 5-9, 2007, 1-0-3---4
3br Julie Droegemueller, L, 5-10, 2007 3-0-0----3
3fr Tia Gaffen, MH, 6-1, 2009, 0-2-5--7
4 Lauren Baufield, RH, 5-10, 2007, 1-1-7---9
5 Hannah Parks, OH, 5-8, 2007, 0-0-3---3
6 Meghan Ellis, MH, 5-10, 2007, 1-3-8---12
Totals: 6-6-26---38 points; 37 points on StMA

ST. MICHAEL-ALBERTVILLE
1 Catherine Yager, S, 6-0, 2009, 1-0-1---2
2 Brittani Wiese, OH, 5-7, 2009, 1-0.5-9---10.5
3br Natalie Dick, DS, 5-4, 2007, 1-0-0---1
3fr Coley Marquette, MH, 5-9, 2008, 0-0.5-0---0.5
4br Whitney Rathbun, DS, 5-6, 2007, 0-0-0---0
4fr g1/2 Kayla Miedema, OH, 5-6, 2007, 0-0-5---5
4fr g3 Maria Berning, OH, 5-8, 2009, 0-0-5---5
5 Allie Knutsen, DS, 5-3, 2009 0-0-3---3
6br Rachel Knutsen, L, 5-8, 2007, 0-0-0---0
6fr Regan Englund, MH, 5-10, 2007, 0-0-4---4
totals: 3-1-27---31 points; 24 points on Wayzata errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Meghan Ellis, took control of the net, forced STMA to alter their attacks

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Wayzata 28/39--.718; 75; .506; .436
StMA 19/39---.487; 55; .564; .493
Wayzata had a solid performance with their fbso game. They were given plenty of points from STMA including 12 service errors on the night.

ROTATION POINTS
WAYZATA
1 Dale 10-7 .588
2 Lasher 10-8 .556
3 Droegemueller 13-13 .500
4 Baufield 19-7 .731
5 Parks 15-6 .714
6 Ellis 8-14 .364

STMA
1 Yager 9-11 .450
2 Wiese 9-12 .429
3 Dick 9-11 .450
4 Rathbun 9-23 .281
5 A Knutsen 6-11 .353
6 R Knutsen 12-7 .632

Wayzata's rotation 4/5 had a clear advantage with percentages over .700. Ellis was patrolling the middle in those rotations. For STMA rotation 4 was an achilles heel with a sub .300 mark. That contrasts with Rachel Knutsen efforts in rotation 6.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Northern Sun, MIAC All Conference lists

#1 posting 11.2.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MN HS SECTION RESULTS
AAA
1
Both top seeds advanced with #1 Owatonna taking Northfield in four, and #2 Lakeville North sweeping Rochester Mayo.
3
I reported on these games last night.
4
Both games went 3-1 as the top seeds moved on to the finals. Blaine beat Totino-Grace and Andover passed up Anoka.

Forest Lake will face Hibbing for the 7AAA championship. Here is the Forest Lake Times with more.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE WINS TWICE
SDSU picked up season win #20 by beating Montana in a sweep on Monday night. On Tuesday it was #21 with a four game win over Montana State. Kristina Martin set a new SDSU record with 33 kills in a four game match. Their finale of the season is Saturday with their neighbor to the north NDSU.

NORTHERN SUN TOURNEY
The Northern Sun tournament begins today at Concordia St. Paul.
SW MN State is the third seed. The Marshall Independent has a feature on MH Kasey Loeslie. The Mustangs face Winona State in the first round.

NORTHERN SUN ALL CONFERENCE
Jessica Lucia, Concordia St. Paul, was named player of the year for the second year in a row in the Northern Sun. Laura Dozelal, Wayne State took the Libero award for the second year straight. CSP took two other top honors with Maggie McNamara grabbing the freshman honor, and coach Brady Starkey winning the coach of the year award for the third time in four years.

MIAC ALL CONFERENCE
The MIAC has come out with their all conference selections. Becca Shane, Concordia Moorhead is player of the year. Emily Klein, Gustavus and Laura Zwach, St. Benedict shared the honor for defensive player of the year. Tasha Simmons, Hamline won the freshman of the year. Three coaches share the honor for coach of the year: Tim Mosser, Concordia Moorhead, Kari Eckhaert, Gustavus, and Gina Rollie, Hamline all got a slice of the award.
Also the MIAC has their weekly press release.
The semis in their conference tournament are tonight with St. Thomas at Concordia Moorhead and St. Benedict at Gustavus.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
4 games
D1
Kristie Klusaw, South Dakota State 63 vs Montana State 3-1

DIGS
4 games
D1
Samantha Pearson, South Dakota State 22 vs Montana State 3-1

KILLS
4 games
D1
Kristina Martin, South Dakota State 33 vs Montana State 3-1
3 games
AAA
Lauren Gibbemeyer, Cretin-Derham Hall 19 vs Woodbury 3-0

Next up: later tonight with another out & about

Out & About: Cretin-Derham Hall/Woodbury

#4 posting 11.1.2006
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

3AAA
CRETIN-DERHAM HALL 3, WOODBURY 0
25-16, 25-22, 25-18

Gopher recruit Lauren Gibbemeyer had 19 kills, 3 aces and 3 blocks in the #1 seed Cretin-Derham Hall's sweep of Woodbury. These two teams are familiar with each other from the Suburban East games.

In game one CDH didn't really shake free from Woodbury until Gibbemeyer's second service. With Gibbemeyer's sideout kill and then three service points CDH led 17-12. Rachel Sievers put together a three points on her serve with Lauren Wagner picking up a block and then a tip kill for points 22 and 23. Wagner added a kill for 24 three points later and then Gibbemeyer finished with a slam to make it 25-16.

CDH FBSO game picked up steam in game two. CDH checked in with .750 in the win with 9/12. The only fly in the oinment was when Woodbury connected the connected long. CDH gave up runs four and five. Woodbury led 13-11 when Gibbemeyer put down a kill from the right side in a FBSO. She then served four straight points including an ace. When she was done it was 16-14. Mara Clements pushed it to 21-16 with three points on her serve. Woodbury's Kaylie Bryant made it interesting by serving up five points to tie it at 22. A joust won by Gibbemeyer followed by a block and a kill by LG ended game two.

CDH and Woodbury had seven straight side outs together early in game three. CDH had 8 straight FBSO that prevented Woodbury from getting any offensive traction. Gibbemeyer was the weapon of choice in five of those points. Meghan McComas ended the night with three straight service points on an ace and two kills by Wagner, and Holly Benedict.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
CRETIN-DERHAM HALL
1 Megan Barrett, DS, 5-4, 2007, 0-0-0---0
1fr Holly Benedict, OH, 5-8, 2008, 0-0-5---5
2 Molly Morrissey, S, 5-6, 2007, 0-0-0---0
2fr Rachel Schloesser, RH, 5-10, 2008 0-1-1--2
2fr Megan Stinchfield, RH, 6-1, 2008, 0-0.5-1--1.5
3 Lauren Gibbemeyer, MH, 6-2, 2007, 3-3-19--25
4 Meghan McComas, OH 5-10, 2007, 1-0-4---5
5(g1, 3) Rachel Sievers, S, 5-6, 2007, 0-0-0---0
5 (g2) Mara Clements, S, 5-6, 2007, 1-0-0---1
6 Lauren Wagner, MH, 6-1, 2007, 0-1.5-8--9.5
Totals: 5-6-38--49, 26 points on Woodbury errors

WOODBURY
1 Brianna Lockie, S, 5-7, 2007, 1-0-0---1
2 Amy Bomgren, OH, 6-0, 2009, 1-0-9---10
3 Casey Moore, MH, 5-10, 2007, 1-0-3---4
4 Virginia Senf, RH, 5-10, 2008, 1-0-8--9
5 Alyssa Raiola, DS, 5-4, 2008, 0-0-0---0
5fr Greta Strenger, OH, 5-10, 2009, 0-0.5-5--5.5
5fr Michelle Graham, OH, 5-11, 2008, 0-0-1---1
6 Kaylie Bryant, L, 5-4, 2007, 1-0-0---1
6fr Mallory Eggert, MH, 6-2, 2007, 0-0.5-2--2.5
Totals: 5-1-28--34 points, 22 points on CDH errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Not even close. Lauren Gibbemeyer had a tour de force

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, 1stso/serves--1stso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Cretin-Derham Hall 27/38---.711; .653; .393
Woodbury 18/40---.450; .607; .346
Both teams were a bit off in the FBSO in game one CDH was 6/11, but Woodbury was a low 4/12. LG had over half of the earned points for CDH (25/49)

ROTATION POINTS
CDH
1 Barrett 11-12 .478
2 Morrissey 10-10 .500
3 Gibbemeyer 17-9 .654
4 McComas 13-6 .684
5 Sievers/Clements 14-8 .636
6 Wagner 10-11 .476

WOODBURY
1 Lockie 12-8 .600
2 Bomgren 10-13 .435
3 Moore 9-14 .391
4 Senf 8-17 .320
5 Raiola 7-11 .389
6 Bryant 10-12 .455

If you notice CDH really had great % when Gibbemeyer was in the back row. She is one of the main receivers and plays solid defense. She isn't afraid to go to the floor. Woodbury's first rotation was the only one north of .500.

Next up: tomorrow morning.

Out & About: Eagan/Hill-Murray

#3 posting 11.1.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

3AAA Semifinals
Eagan 3, Hill-Murray 0
25-20, 25-17, 25-21

Eagan swept a feisty Hill-Murray. HM came out with the first four points of the game with Lindsay Preiner delivering the first three points via kills. Eagan then scored the next four points to tie it. Eagan took the lead for good 9-7 on Maila Paleafei's serve including two straight aces. Both teams then went into FBSO mode with six straight between the two teams. Eagan kept it up for six straight HM serves and pushed the lead to 18-15. HM did cut the lead to 19-18 on a FBSO back row kill from Jen Annoni. Eagan got the side out and proceeded to get three straight points on Leah Ehret's serve, all on HM hitting errors. Taylor Cross got the side out, and Eagan had an error to cut the margin to 23-20, but got a side out kill from Kelsey Sparks and another kill from Sarah Schwanz to end game one.

Eagan had five rotations in game two in which they had three or more points. HM had the early lead at 5-2, but on Taylor Bohannon's serve Eagan took the lead for good at 10-8. Eagan went on a 12-4 run during this stretch.

Game three Egan led early 4-2 and that ballooned out to 12-5. HM took a time out and after that break went on a 7-2 run. That led to a Eagan time out. They also were rejuvenated after the break with five straight points, one on a sideout kill by Laurel Sanford and four off of Schwanz's serve. HM took their second time out at 19-12. HM then had five straight FBSO, but the hole was too deep. Sanford had seven points in the third frame with six kills and one block.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
EAGAN
1br Leah Ehret, DS, 5-6, 2008 0-0-0----0
1fr Kathryn Kemp, OH, 5-11, 2007, 0-0-6---6
2 Kelsey Sparks, MH 5-10, 2008, 0-2-7---9
3 Sarah Schwanz, RH, 5-10, 2007, 1-0-9---10
4 Maila Paleafei, OH, 5-7, 2008, 0-0.5-5---5.5
5 Taylor Bohannon, L, 5-6, 2008 0-0-0---0
5fr Laurel Sanford, MH, 6-0, 2008, 0-1.5-14---15.5
6 Katie Joyce, S, 5-9, 2008, 0-0-0----0
Katie Hofstad, MH, 5-10, 2008 0-0-1---1
Totals: 1-4-42---47 points, 28 points on Hill-Murray errors

HILL-MURRAY
1 Tessa Bisek, S, x, 2008, 0-0-0---0
2 Taylor Cross, MH, x, 2008 2-1-7---10
3 Jen Annoni, OH, x, 2008, 0-0-1----1
4 Caitlin Canton, S, x, 2007, 1-0.5-5--6.5
4fr Lindsay Preiner, RH, x, 2008, 0-0-9---9
5 Gina Gore, DS, x, 2008, 0-0-0---0
5fr Lauren Stoxen, MH, x, 2007 0-1-0---1
5fr Cassie Rieser, MH, x, 2008, 0-0.5-0--0.5
6 Meri Butala, OH, x, 2008, 2-0-5--7
T0tals: 8-3-28---39 points, 19 points on Eagan errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Laurel Sanford

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, 1stso/serves--1stso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Eagan 24/38---.632; 75; .627; .328
Hill-Murray 22/37---.595; 58; .672; .373
Eagan's edge in FBSO helped in the victory. Eagan earned more of their points and their defense held down HM's attacks.

ROTATION POINTS
EAGAN
1 Ehret 15-13 .536
2 Sparks 13-12 .520
3 Schwanz 14-6 .700
4 Paleafei 9-10 .474
5 Bohannon 13-8 .619
6 Joyce 11-9 .550

HILL-MURRAY
1 Bisek 14-14 .500
2 Cross 11-15 .423
3 Annoni 6-9 .400
4 Canton 10-13 .435
5 Gore 7-12 .368
6 Butala 10-12 .455

Schwanz didn't really get the points until game three. In that game she had six points off her serve and four of them were due to HM errors.

Next up: Out & About: Cretin-Derham Hall/Woodbury

Lake of the Woods Upsets #1AA DGF

#2 posting 11.1.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MURPHY VERBALS
Blair Murphy has made a verbal to Concordia-St. Paul. She is the 12th player from 2007 to make a verbal. She joins Rachel Knutsen from St. Michael-Albertville in verbals to CSP.

HS SECTION RESULTS
AAA
5
Both top seeds moved on, but #2 St. Michael-Albertville had to go five to beat #3 Osseo. Each team traded wins with STMA winning the odd games.
#1 Wayzata swept Armstrong.
6
As I told you last night Chaska and Eden Prairie moved on in what I would say is a MiniState tournament. The StarTribune has a report on both games. The Chaska Herald also has story. Compare with my report from last night.
7
#1 S Forest Lake and #1 N Hibbing each had sweeps in the semifinals.
8
All the top seeds advanced here. Alexandria did need five games over Detroit Lakes including a 15-13 game five to make the semifinals.
Moorhead had a sweep over Perham. From the Fargo Forum.
Sauk Rapids and Rocori won in the south half of the section. From the St. Cloud Times.

AA
3
The north half went according to script, but the South half had both top seeds lose. #4 Jackson County Central beat #1 St. James in four, while #3 Pipestone moved on with a four game win over #2 Windom. From the Worthington Daily Globe.
In the North Springfield swept Renville County West. Also GFW, as top seed, beat Redwood Valley in Redwood Falls. Both stories from the New Ulm Journal, and the West Central Tribune.
4
In another half of the bracket with top seeds falling the #4 Concordia Roseville and #3 Minnehaha moved on. In the west side things were on track with Jordan and Mayer Lutheran winning their battles.
5
Esko and Carlton swept past their opponents. From the Duluth News Tribune.
St. Cloud Cathedral knocked out Pierz. from the St. Cloud Times and Brainerd Dispatch
6
Top seeds moved on here with BBE and Montevideo winning in four, while MACCRAY and Sauk Centre takings sweeps. The West Central Tribune has more on these games.
7
Both #1s moved on: Virginia from the North half, #1 South Pine River-Backus beat North #2 Chisholm in five. From the Brainerd Dispatch.
8
Lake of the Woods, without their coach Laurie Bitter, upset #1AA DGF in five. LOW trailed 2-0 before mounting their comeback. LOW won two point squeakers in games 3 and 4. Jason Wilson is at the helm now for LOW. From the Fargo Forum.
Wadena-Deer Creek swept West Central in the other game. from the Brainerd Dispatch.

A
2
In the north half of the section #5 Cedar Mountain-Comfrey upset #1 KMS in five. All other games went according to script. Central Christian also won with a convincing sweep of Lester Prairie. From the West Central Tribune.
In the south things turned out well for top seeds. Nicollet moved on with a three game win over GHECML. From the Mankato Free Press.
Sleepy Eye St. Mary's steamrolled Truman. From the New Ulm Journal.
3
#3 Fulda upset #2 Edgerton in the south half with all other games going to the favorites. It took SW Star five games to get by SW MN Christian however. Here are the Worthington Daily Globe reports.
In the north half Minneota and Lakeview each won. From the Marshall Independent.
4
All top seeds advanced in this section
5
Both #1s advanced with Hill City from the North and Betha-Hewitt in the south.
6
Again both #1s move on with Ulen-Hitterdal from the north, and #1 Wheaton taking the south with a sweep over Underwood. From the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.
7
Both #1s advanced with Cook and Littlefork-Big Falls moving on.
8
On the south side #4 Climax-Fisher stunned #1 Clearbrook-Gonvick in four. CF lost the first game and then took the rest.
In the North half of the section #3 Warren-Alvarado-Oslo upset #2 Northern in five.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTANTS
5 games
AA
Brianna Erickson, Pine River-Backus 45 vs Chisholm 2-3
4 games
AA
Andre'a Wynn, Crosby-Ironton 45 vs Virginia 1-3

KILLS
5 games
AA
Carlie Waibel, Lake of the Woods 25 vs DGF 3-2
Jennifer Lopez, DGF 24 vs LOW 2-3
Naomi Anderson, Pine River-Backus 19 vs Chisholm 2-3
Chelsea Christensen, Pine River-Backus 18 vs Chisholm 2-3
4 games
AA
Annie Adams, Crosby-Ironton 17 vs Virginia 1-3
3 games
AAA
Chelsie Sobieck, Forest Lake 18 vs Hermantown 3-0
AA
Amber Ryan, Esko 22 vs MLWR 3-0
Anna Zyvoloski, St. Cloud Cathedral 17 vs Pierz 3-0
A
Kresson Vreeman, Central Christian 18 vs Lester Prairie 3-0

Thanks to all the readers that help without with information to make this the first & last source for volleyball news. If you have some information, send it along.

Next up: later tonight with more out & abouts.

Platteville Pulls Trick on Oshkosh

#1 posting 11.1.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

WAGNER VERBALS
Lauren Wagner, Cretin-Derham Hall has made a verbal to Fairfield. The 6-1 Wagner can play any spot along the net. She is the 11th MN 2007 player to make a verbal, and the 8th to go to a D1 program.

TRIPLE DOUBLE
Betty Slinger, UW Green Bay, leads the country in Triple Doubles with 7. Slinger, a former Bethlehem Academy player, also won the Horizon Scholar-Athlete of the week last week. Also here is a list of the the TDs from the AVCA.

D2 ACTION
UN Omaha swept Augustana

D3 ACTION
MIAC PLAYOFFS
#6 St. Benedict upset #3 Carleton in four in Northfield. It was the second straight season St. Ben's ended Carleton's year. St. Benedict will now play Gustavus Thursday at St. Peter.
#4 St. Thomas got revenge for a regular season loss against #5 Hamline in four. St. Thomas will now travel to Moorhead to face #1 Concordia Thursday night.

WIAC PLAYOFFS
The Brooms were out in three of the matches last night:
Eau Claire swept Stout
River Falls went three with Stevens Point. River Falls now faces Eau Claire on Friday.
Whitewater took out LaCrosse.
The exception was #7 Platteville's five trick over #2 Oshkosh. Platteville trailed 2-0 before their comeback win. Platteville won despite hitting .113 to Oshkosh's .166 and having 54 kills to 68. Platteville did have strong net play with 18.5 blocks to 11.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
4 games
D3
Heather La Chapelle, Carleton 50 vs St. Benedict 1-3
Beth Hanson, St. Benedict 46 vs Carleton 3-1
3 games
D2
Katie Agnew, UN Omaha 50 vs Augustana 3-0
D3
Kate Lazotte, Whitewater 47 vs LaCrosse 3-0

DIGS
5 games
D3
Samantha Schmidt, Oshkosh 27 vs Platteville 2-3
4 games
D3
Laura Zwach, St. Benedict 40 vs Carleton 3-1
Laura Barsness, Carleton 29 vs St. Benedict 1-3
Danielle Hargreaves, Carleton 28 vs St. Benedict 1-3
Katie Kremer, St. Thomas 25 vs Hamline 3-1
Megan La Chapelle, Carleton 21 vs St. Benedict 1-3
Emma Jaynes, St. Benedict 20 vs Carleton 3-1
3 games
D2
Stacie Wemhoff, UN Omaha 25 vs Augustana 3-0
Abby Schmidt, Augustana 22 vs UN Omaha 0-3
D3
Lindsey Mace, River Falls 20 vs Stevens Point 3-0

KILLS
4 games
D3
Danielle Hargreaves, Carleton 19 vs St. Benedict 1-3

Thanks to all the readers that help without with information to make this the first & last source for volleyball news. If you have some information, send it along.

Next up: MN HS section results from last night.