UMD Falls in Semis, CSP Signings

#1 posting 11.18.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SIGNINGS
Concordia St. Paul inked five for their squad: Emily Palkert, SW Christian (Chaska); Krista Erickson, Andover; Blair Murphy, Hermantown; Rachel Knutsen St. Michael-Albertville and Kasey Woodcock, Delano.

UM DULUTH, UW WHITEWATER FALLS IN SEMIS
UM Duluth lost to #1 Tampa in the NCAA D2 semifinals in four games. Vicky Braegelmann had 26 kills in the effort. UMD finishes 31-4 on the year.

UW Whitewater was swept in the NCAA D3 semifinals to Washington St. Louis. The Recap didn't work, the box score did.

JUCO NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
Central Lakes is looking for their first national title in their fourth trip to the big event. A preview fromt the Brainerd Dispatch.
Central Lakes went 3-0 in pool play, Ridgewater was 2-1. Here is the results from the Rochester CTC site, the hosts for this tournament. Central Lakes will play Ridgewater in the semis today at 11 am. Finals are at 4 pm.

SENIOR NIGHT
It could be the last home game for Gopher Seniors Kelly Bowman, Megan Crumpston, Meredith Nelson, and Malama Peniata. Tonight's oppenent is Iowa. From the MN Daily.

POLICE BLOTTER
Katelyn Applewick has been given three years probation for an automobile crash that severly injured Winona State volleyball coach Connie Metille, and the football coach. Both read statements at the sentencing. From the Winona Daily News.

ALL STAR GAME
The North Central All Star game will take place today and tomorrow at Bemidji State. Game starts at 1 pm. They list the rosters on the site. From the Bemidji Pioneer.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
KILLS
Vicky Braegelmann, UM Duluth 26 vs Tampa 1-3

Next up: tonight after the Gopher game.

UMD Semi Bound, Lopez Verbals

#1 posting 11.17.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

LOPEZ VERBALS
Jennifer Lopez, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, 2008 a 5-11 setter and hitter, has made a verbal to North Dakota State. From the Fargo Forum.

UM DULUTH TO D2 SEMIS
#2 UM Duluth beat UC San Diego 3-1 in the D2 quarterfinals in Pensacola and will see #1 Tampa today at 4 pm in the Semifinals. Also the Duluth News Tribune has more.

Vicky Braegelmann of UMD was named to the Daktronics All American second team.

The McNamara sisters of Concordia St. Paul have a blurb in the Red Wing Republican Eagle.

WHITEWATER MOVES TO SEMIS
UW Whitewater beat California Lutheran 3-0 to move to the semifinals. The host site has more details in their recap. Here is the bracket. Here is the final 8 site. You can get live audio.

NATIONAL JUCO TOURNAMENT
Ridgewater's first year coach Joe Sussenguth takes his squad to Rochester for the National NJCAA D3 championships in Rochester MN. Ridgewater opens the tournament today as the #3 seed and will face #6 Monroe NY at 11 am. This is pool play.
Central Lakes is the #1 seed and sees

HS SEASON RECAPS
Cannon Falls finished the year 15-14 this year. The article in the Cannon Falls Beacon lists awards and honors for the team.
Freshman Cassidy Whalen was MVP from the Randolph Rockets. Also from the CF Beacon.

Next up: tomorrow morning

D2 Tournament Begins, Grussing Retires

#1 posting 11.16.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

D2 ELITE 8
Jim Boos, UM Duluth was named North Central coach of the year and four of his players made the North Central team. The Bulldogs open the D2 Elite 8 tournament against UC San Diego today at noon at West Florida in Pensacola. To get stats check here, to get the webfeed check here. No word if the video is free, my guess is no.

GOPHERS ALONE IN FIRST
The MN Daily recounts last night's big win in Madison snapping the Badgers home winning streak.
The Wisconsin State Journal and Badger Herald also has their recap from a different perspectives.

Megan Crumpston gets a feature in the StarTribune. Her rise mirrors the Gophers. Her whipsaw serve and powerpacked kills have given Minnesota another dimension in their attacks.

COACHING NEWS
Traci Grussing has resigned at Central Christian. Grussing won A titles 1998 when the tournament was still two classes, and then two more in 1999, and 2000 when their were three tournaments. She coached 17 All State players. From the West Central Tribune.
She is the second prominent coach to retire this year. Walt Weaver, the only coach Apple Valley has had, also is leaving.

TRANSFERS SHUT DOWN
If the MSHSL gets their way the transfer door will be slammed shut. That is the preliminary report that a committee recommends. The board of directors look at the issue next on Dec 7. Then it goes to regions throughout the state; the final step is the general assembly on Feb 12. From the StarTribune.

AWARDS & HONORS
Bemidji had their banquet and named names. Among the award winners Mattea Elhard was MVP for offense; Sam Fossand MVP for defense.
Katelyn Horihan was named MVP of the Mabel-Canton team. From the Mabel-Harmony News Record.
The Iron Range all conference team is again named, this time in the International Falls Daily Journal.
The Southwest conference named their all conference squad and four Marshall Tigers make the list. From the Marshall Independent.

END OF SEASON WRAPS
Lanesboro finished 21-6.
Mabel-Canton finished 28-4-1, losing in the section finals to state runner up Bethlehem Academy.
Both from the Republican Leader.

RUSSIA WORLD CHAMPION
Russia defeated Brazil in five for the world title. From the Pioneer Press. Here is a box that is different from what I've seen, more details too.

Thanks to all the readers of the blog. With your help volleyball news is no longer hidden.

Next up: tomorrow morning

The View from Afar: Minnesota/Wisconsin

#2 posting 11.15.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MINNESOTA 3, WISCONSIN 1
30-26, 30-22, 18-30, 30-25

The Minnesota Gophers are now alone in second place in the big 10 as they beat #10 Wisconsin on their home court in four. Penn State was swept in three recently in Madison. It is not a friendly environment for away teams to play.

This report is coming from the play by play list that came from the Wisconsin website. I don't have the visual access, but it is available. It felt like I was sitting by the crystal set listening to the Harding/Cox election returns from 1920, only there was no listening.

In game one Wisconsin had the lead at 8-6, but Malama Peniata gave the lead to Minnesota for good after a side out with two service points both on Wisconsin attack errors. The biggest run in the first game came on Christine Tan's five service points, plus the side out to give Minnesota a decent cushion. The Gophers added to it with a four piont run after the side out for a 10-1 run.

Wisconsin switched their outsides in game two with Maria Carlini coming early in the serving order and Brittany Dolgner following. Wisconsin again led early 6-4, but couldn't quite hold the lead. The Gophers took the lead on Rachel Hartmann's serve 12-9. Minnesota had another big run, this time by NCAA record holder Meredith Nelson with five points from the line plus one from the side out for six. That made it 23-15. A block by Nelson and Hartmann finished the second frame.

In the third game Wisconsin made some more adjustments with the outsides remaining where they were in game two, but instead of Simpson holding the first rotation, she now fell to third in the rotation. That seemed to get the Badger mojo working as they led early 9-4. MN did close at 16-15, but Wisconsin took off on a 9-2 run after that to establish their lead.

In the fourth stanza Wisconsin stayed with what worked in game three, but Minnesota made some adjustments of their own. The Gophers led early for the first time 7-2 and 8-4. It didn't last. Wisconsin took the lead at 10-9 with Amanda Berkley's serve in the fifth rotation. Their biggest lead was three, and last lead at 20-19. By this point both teams were grooving their fbso game. Wisconsin had seven straight fbso, Minnesota had their fbso run a bit later, but it was six. Peniata gave the lead to MN with two service points and a 22-21 lead MN picked up two more points on three straight kills by Wisconsin native Meredith Nelson, one on a side out and two on Crumpston dive serves. Wisco closed to 27-25, but finished with three straight attack errors, one of which hit the Minnesota wall.

Of course you can get the recount from the Minnesota or Wisconsin sites too.

Here are the
NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Minnesota 40/62--.645; 108; .722; .330
Wisconsin 36/62---.581; 103; .670; .278

ROTATION POINTS
MINNESOTA
1 Tan 24-13 .649
2 Peniata 22-20 .524
3 Bowman 14-15 .483
4 Crumpston 16-17 .485
5 Nelson 20-17 .541
6 Hartmann 12-21 .364

Now the Gophers prepare at home for another border battle---Iowa. It may not have the punch this one had, but Minnesota has probably learned not to sleep walk through any matches after Michigan.

Next up: Tomorrow morning with more on this game, plus news of the day.

Border Brawl Tonight

#1 posting 11.15.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BORDER BRAWL
#12 Minnesota faces #10 Wisconsin in a game to determine which team will be alone in second in the Big 10. It also may determine who gets a first round NCAA tournament game for Dec 1 & 2. Wisconsin is looking for revenge as the Gophers beat them in October. From the Badger Herald. The Minnesota Daily also has the build up. Madison should be rockin' tonight.

D2 NEWS
UM Duluth is now #2 in the country after their North Central regional win over host Concordia St. Paul. They open the Elite 8 D2 tournament in Pensacola.

It looks like the North Central Conference days will be getting shorter. North Dakota is gone soon, South Dakota is also going the D1 route. Augustana has asked to get into the Northern Sun. Nebraska Omaha has asked to get into the Mid American conference. That leaves UM Duluth, St. Cloud State, and MSU Mankato with a rump three team conference. From the StarTribune.

Lindsey Gothe, St. Cloud State and Elk River was named to ESPN Magazine all district 5 third team. From the Elk River Star News.

EVEN MORE STATE TOURNAMENT LEFTOVERS
Jordan, a dynasty in the making?
Chaska basks in the glow of their 6th state title.
Both from the StarTribune's weekly editions in the South and West.

HS HONORS/AWARDS
Kelsey Brandl - Lakeville North and M1 17-1’s - will be traveling to Venice, Italy after Christmas with the USA Youth Volleyball team.

Zimmerman named their MVP: Hannah Downing. From the Elk River Star News.
Hannah Downing and Jenna Anderson were named to the Rum River Team.

The Red Rock has named their all conference team. From the Worthington Daily Globe.

The Iron Range named their all Conference team. It is found in the Duluth News Tribune scoreboard section. scroll, scroll, scroll down down down.

Also tonight there is an all star game in Duluth tonight. The Bernick’s Pepsi All-Star Game will take place in Hermantown at 8:15 pm. again the roster will be found in the scoreboard.

The West Central North and South have named their All Conference teams.
From the West Central Tribune.

The Pine to Prairie conference has their all conference list in the Grand Forks Herald. Scroll Jordan Scroll.

Krystal Schwanke, Springfield was named KNUJ Volleyball Player of the Year. She will play volleyball next year at SW MN State. From the New Ulm Journal.

JO SEASON
M1 will list their teams on their site coming in November.

Thanks for all the help from you readers of this site. You are the reason this is must see VB on the internet.

Next up: tomorrow morning, or maybe later after the MN/WI game

Gibbemeyer POY, 3 Signings

#1 posting 11.14.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

ALL STATE TEAM
Lauren Gibbemeyer, Cretin-Derham Hall was named player of the year in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The Pioneer Press has named their All State teams with three teams, and honorable mention.

TRIO OF SIGNINGS
Laura Greenwood a 5'10" MH/OH hitter from Duluth East volleyball has signed to play for MSU-Moorhead next season. No links found on this story, but it is from a reliable source.

Amber Ryan, Esko MH has signed with NW Missouri State coached by Esko native Anna Tool. From the Duluth News, and you will have to scroll down to read it.

Rachel Lamers Kimberly, WI OH has signed with UM Duluth. From the Appleton Post Crescent.

MINNESOTA UP ONE
The AVCA polls has the Gophers climbing one spot to #12 after their thrashing of Illinois and Northwestern. Now they travel to Madison for a Big 10 battle for second with Wisconsin.

MORE TOURNAMENT LEFTOVERS
Climax-Fisher has a wrap of their 4th place experience in the A tournament in the Crookston Times.
Littlefork-Big Falls had two losses at state, Climax-Fisher and Wheaton. They are reviewed by the International Falls Daily Journal.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
The Star Tribune has two volleyballers make the list, both State Champions, and both Brittanys: Brittany Chambers of Jordan, and Brittany Wenzel, Chaska.

TEAM WRAPS
West Central has passed out their team awards and Tana Lohse and Kendra Vipond were named team MVPs. From the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.

ALL CONFERENCE
Lauren Gibbemeyer, Megan McComas, and Lauren Wagner from Cretin-Derham Hall have been named all conference in the Suburban East. The rest of the squad will be posted or linked here when I am notified.

If you have news on all conference or signings or general news let me know. You readers make this site a must stop destination on the internet highway.

Next up: Tomorrow morning

Tournament Leftovers

#1 posting 11.13.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

If you haven't rechecked the stories from this Saturday, I have modified them and added more information. It was late and I was tired after the avalanche of volleyball on Saturday night. I did need to sleep a few hours.

TOURNAMENT LEFTOVERS
Minneota was crowned champs on Saturday. Monday the Marshall Independent trumpets their achievement.

Pipestone was 3rd in AA with their 3-1 win over LeSueur-Henderson. From the Worthington Daily Globe.

Marshall ended their season with a 5th place triumph over Wayzata in the AAA division. Here is more in the Marshall Independent.

Hibbing's State tournament experience is recounted here with their quarterfinals loss to Blaine and the consolation loss to Marshall. From the Hibbing Daily News.

CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations are in order for the state champs
A Minneota
AA Jordan
AAA Chaska
also hats off to the coaches of the year
A Traci Grussing, Central Christian
AA Colleen Chambers, Jordan
AAA Celeste Gorman, Blaine

GOPHERS GOLDEN
Meredith Nelson set an NCAA record with her 18 straight service points (it may have gone on longer, but on potential point 19 it just plopped over the net with players looking at each other).
Also during the weekend smoking of Illinois and Northwestern Kelly Bowman topped the 1000 career dig mark. From the MN Daily.

Next up: tomorrow morning

UMD Wins Rubber Game

#1 posting 11.12.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

D2 NORTH CENTRAL REGION CHAMPIONSHIP
UM Duluth won the rubber game with Concordia St. Paul in four games and they did it on CSP's home floor in the North Central region. The all region team is in the CSP link above. UMDuluth will play UC San Diego at noon on November 16 at West Florida University in Pensacola, FL in the final 8 D2 tournament .

D3 MIDWEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Defending national champion UW Whitewater beat UW Eau Claire in four on the UWEC floor in the Midwest Regional. It was Whitewater's third victory over Eau Claire this season. They now move on in the bracket to the D3 final 8 at the Salem, VA Civic Center to face California Lutheran. It is unclear to me when they play. Maybe you can figure out from this site.

D1 INDEPENDENT TOURNAMENT
North Dakota State beat South Dakota State in four games to finish 3rd in the 6 team Independent tournament. Also the Fargo Forum has more.
IPFW won the tournament in a four game battle with Utah Valley State. You can also check out the all tournament team on the main site. Sheila Parrish, and Lyndsey Rogers from NDSU make the list, Kristina Martin for SDSU also is on.

MORE HS TOURNAMENT RESULTS
AAA
3rd
Blaine bounced back from their heartbreaker with LN with a four game win over Eagan. More info at the MSHSL site.
5th Place
Marshall won their match with Wayzata in four. I am sure the Marshall Independent will have more tomorrow. Right now you just get the MSHSL box.
AA
3rd place
Pipestone downed LSH in four. you will need to go the MSHSL for more info.
5th place
St. Cloud Cathedral beat Lake of the Woods in four. From the St. Cloud Times.
A
3rd Place
Central Christian beat Climax-Fisher for 3rd in five games.
5th place
Meadow Creek swept Wheaton. Story also found in the Climax-Fisher story.

ALL AREA
Albert Lea Tribune came out with their All Area team. The co- player of the year is Annika Smed, Albert Lea, the other player is south of the border--Megan Pederson of Lake Mills IA. Here is the rest of the Albert Lea Tribune All Area team.

Annie Adams, Crosby-Ironton was named player of the year in the Brainerd Dispatch, but I haven't found the link to it yet. Here is her signing story with South Dakota State from the Brainerd Dispatch.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
A
Kaiaso Korynta, Climax-Fisher 47 vs Central Christian 2-3
4 games
AA
Amanda Dietel, Jordan 45 vs Stewartville 3-1
A
Hayley Hennen, Minneota 47 vs Bethlehem Academy 3-1

DIGS
5 games
A
Nicole Knutson, Climax-Fisher 21 vs Central Christian 2-3
4 games
AAA
Taylor Bohannon, Eagan 22 vs Blaine 1-3
Shay Birath, Marshall 20 vs Wayzata 3-1
AA
Brittany Chambers, Jordan 23 vs Stewartville 3-1
Julie Rainey, Stewartville 22 vs Jordan 1-3
Kelsey Lorenzen, Pipestone 21 vs LeSueur-Henderson 3-1
Leigh Splittstoesser, Stewartville 20 vs Jordan 1-3
A
Hayley Hennen, Minneota 26 vs Bethlehem Academy 3-1
Sammy Von Ruden, Bethlehem Academy 22 vs Minneota 1-3
Brooke Minnehan, Minneota 21 vs Bethlehem Academy 3-1
3 games
AAA
Taylor Fieldsted, Lakeville North 23 vs Chaska 0-3
Bekah Saugen, Chaska 20 vs Lakeville North 3-0

KILLS
5 games
A
Kacie Fortmann, Climax-Fisher 22 vs Central Christian 2-3
4 games
AAA
Amanda Beekman, Marshall 27 vs Wayzata 3-1
AA
Leah Dietel, Jordan 27 vs Stewartville 3-1
Brittany Chambers, Jordan 26 vs Stewartville 3-1
Anna Zyvoloski, St. Cloud Cathedral 23 vs Lake of the Woods 3-1

COLLEGE
ASSISTS
4 games
D1
Mattie Johnson, North Dakota State 61 vs South Dakota State 3-1
Kristie Klusaw, South Dakota State 48 vs North Dakota State 1-3

DIGS
4 games
D1
Kari Fagnan, North Dakota State 23 vs South Dakota State 3-1
Samantha Pearson, South Dakota State 21 vs North Dakota State 1-3

KILLS
4 games
D1
Sheila Parrish, North Dakota State 23 vs South Dakota State 3-1

Now what?
It is not over. It never is. Their will be more all this and all that lists coming out in the next few weeks. Also JO season will be cranking up. I will need help in getting that information up. I will be linking JO sites soon.
I also took a bazillion pictures at the state. I hope most are clear enough to post.
Of course the Gophers are still playing and we will be covering that activity to be sure.

Next up: tomorrow morning. Of course I need to retro fit yesterdays games too.

Out & About: Minnesota /Northwestern

#6 posting 11.11.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MINNESOTA 3, NORTHWESTERN 0
30-24, 30-11, 30-17

The Gophers steamrolled a pretty good Northwestern team as they took care of business and didn't overlook this squad. Earlier in the year MN struggled at Evanston. There was no struggle tonight.

The intersting fact in this game occurred in game two when Meredith Nelson served up 18 straight points to take the Gophers from 7-4 to 25-4. That is a new NCAA record. Northwestern tried to stop the bleeding at 9-4 and 14-4, but they needed a tourniquet.

NW had the beginnings of their Chernobyl in game one with Minnesota reeling off a 11-3 run. The Gophers trailed 21-19 before the start of the avalance. It all started on a missed serve.

In game three the Gophers were Golden once more with a 17-3 run. Domination was the word of the day.

Here are the reports from the colleges Minnesota and Northwestern.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Minnesota 22/35---.629; 90; .756; .269
Northwestern 19/35---.543; .731; .244
The odd thing was Northwestern's fbso was always one less than the Gophers each game. Even in game two it was .667. The Nelson Tsunami swept any prayer of victory out the window in that game.

ROTATION POINTS
Tan 12-6 .667
Peniata 9-10 .474
Bowman 15-7 .682
Crumpston 19-13 .594
Nelson 30-9 .769
Hartmann 6-7 .462
With 18 in a row you might expect Nelson to be on the top end of the rotation points. She also had a strong run in game three with six more in a row.

Minnesota only gave up one run of four when the regulars in three games. When substitutions were made another run of four occured. But counting the MN runs: 8 over three games, 10 if you like your runs of three.

Now will this statement be heard in Madison? Sole possession for second place will be on the line on Wednesday.

Next up: tomorrow.

Out & About: Chaska/Lakeville North

#5 posting 11.11.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AAA FINALS
CHASKA 3, LAKEVILLE NORTH 0
25-20, 25-16, 25-15

Chaska won their 6th title overall with a sweep over LN. The Hawks never lost a game in the match. The last game they lost was in the 6AAA Semis to Shakopee.

My wife wanted to eat before the Minnesota/Northwestern game, so I left after the AA championship.

But I did digest the box from the MSHSL and here is some
NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Chaska 26/38---.684; 75; .800; .255
Lakeville North 21/38---.553; 51; .745; .200

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Leah Saugen

ROTATION POINTS
CHASKA
1 Kimber Kuhl 19-9 .679
2 Leah Saugen 17-8 .680
3 Brittany Wenzel 7-7 .500
4 Allie Oelke 11-8 .579
5 Tawny Dahmes 7-8 .467
6 Bekah Saugen 14-11 .560

LAKEVILLE NORTH
1 Taylor Fieldsted 12-17 .414
2 Torey Broback 8-12 .400
3 Kayla Kirby 8-7 .533
4 Brandl/Weaver 9-11 .450
5 Cori Revsbeck 6-8 .479
6 Amy Braun 10-18 .357

When Wenzel is in the front row for Chaska their point % is .641; When she is in the back row they are .521.
Kirby was the only LN player north of .500.

Here is the MSHSL boxes.
The Chaska Herald has details along with the All Tournament team.
The StarTribune also has their take on Chaska's march to the title.
The Pioneer Press also have their insights on Chaska's win.

Next up: the Minnesota/Northwestern game

Out & About: Jordan/Stewartville

#4 posting 11.11.2006
your daily dose girls volleyball news & information

AA FINALS
JORDAN 3, STEWARTVILLE 1
25-17, 23-25, 25-16, 25-17

The Jordan youngsters won their first title over a traditional power in Stewartville.

The basic story in this game came down to fbso and the dynamic attack duo of Brittany Chambers and Leah Dietel. Of course setting the table was Amanda Dietel. Jordan delivered fbso at .542 while Stewartville checke in at .429.

The first game started off with a Chambers kill for a fbso and then Stewartville gave up two points on hitting errors for a 3-0 Jordan lead. Jordan built the lead to 9-5 when Stewartville was forced to take a time out after an ace by Ashley Franke. Stewie was able to tie it at 11 after four three service points from Alex Nold including an ace for point 11. Then Jordan needed to regroup. Chambers got a kill for the side out. Jordan had the next run with three service points from Meghan Moffitt, to push the lead up to 18-13. Franke again delivered with five service points to put Jordan on the brink 24-16. Stewie took a time out after an ace for point 20-16, but after the break Leah Dietel kept the run going with a slide kill. She added a tip kill for point 23 and after a missed serve, finished off the first frame with another kill.

The first game had 6 runs of three or more by both teams. Game two only had two and one occurred early for Jordan as they led 4-1 after a Chambers ace. It may have continued, but Chambers hit the net on her next serve. Neither team could get any offensive traction going as Jordan maintained a three point lead. Stewartville tied it up at 15 for the first time. Stewartville had the other run to push the game from a one point deficit to a 21-19 Stewie lead. Jordan had the first time out at 20-19. After a block by Leigh Splittstoesser, Nold served out. Jordan tied it on a Chambers ace, but again she found the net on her next serve. On Splittstoesser's serve Jordan was called for a lift. Jordan burned their last time out. It helped because Leah Dietel delivered a kill to cut the Stewartville margin to 23-22. That was all Stewartville needed to see & they took their time out. The rest of the game was a side out game as Leah Dietel had an overpass hitting error to hand the game to Stewie.

There were five runs in game three and four belonged to Jordan and they all came before Stewartville's last gasp. Jordan came up four and on Amanda Dietel serve pushed the lead up to 21-11. Stewartville used the second time out at 18-11 and it didn't stop the Jordan juggernaut. Stewartville did close the margin to 23-16 with a run of three on a side out and two service points from Amanda Thompson. Leah Dietel again closed the deal, this time with a block.

Neither team shook the other off in game four. The game opened with six straight side outs. Jordan held an early advantage by breaking serve, but Stewartville was right on the heels and tied the game at 14. Thompson delivered 14 on an ace, but missed her next serve. That gave the ball back to Jordan and Leah Dietel served up four. Stewartville took their first time out at 17-14, they soon used the second at 19-14. Jordan cut the margin to 21-17, but Chambers, who had 10 kills in the fourth game alone, scored three of the last four points, including the game winner with kills. Jordan had taken their place in the pantheon of champions.

Here is the MSHSL site game info.
The Pioneer Press has the Jordan championship story. The StarTribune doubles up the AA & A championship games.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
JORDAN
1 Amanda Dietel, S, 5-8, 2008, 1-0-2---3
2 Brittany Chambers, H, 5-8, 2009, 5-0-22--27
3 Michelle O'Malley, MH, 5-9, 2009, 0-0-0---0
4 Ashley Franke, RH, 5-8, 2007, 2-0-1---3
5 Leah Dietel, MH, 6-1, 2009, 3-2-25--30
6 Elizabeth O'Malley, OH, 5-5,2007, 1-0-0---1
totals: 12-2-45----59 points, 39 points on Stewartville errors

STEWARTVILLE
1 Alex Nold, MH, 6-0, 2007, 2-4-8---14
2 Leigh Splittstoesser, S, 5-7, 2007, 0-0-6--6
3br Laura Hoover, Server, 5-8, 2007, 1-0-0---1
3fr Erin Ness, OH, 6-0, 2008, 0-0-4---4
4 Amanda Thompson, MH, 5-9, 2007, 1-4-5---10
5 Emily Rainey, S, 5-6, 2009, 0-0-0----0
5fr Renee Waugh, RH, 5-11, 2007, 0-1-2---3
6 Julie Rainey, OH, 5-9, 2010, 1-0-4---5
Totals: 5-9-29---43 points; 32 points on Jordan errors.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
I don't believe in sharing titles. It is not PlayerS of the game, but obviousley two for Jordan, or maybe even three could easily fill the bill. But for being more consistent throughout the match I am going with Leah Dietel.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Jordan 26/48---.542; 98; .602; .427
Stewartville 21/49---.429; 75; .573; .398
Every game Jordan fbsoed better than Stewartville. The first game Jordan delivered .727. LD had four of the eight fbso in game one.

ROTATION POINTS
JORDAN
1 Amanda Dietel 20-14 .588
2 Chambers 20-12 .625
3 Michelle O'Malley 13-16 .448
4 Franke 19-12 .613
5 Leah Dietel 15-9 .624
6 Elizabeth O'Malley 11-12 .478

STEWARTVILLE
1 Nold 17-23 .425
2 Splittstoesser 13-15 .464
3 Hoover 13-14 .481
4 Thompson 14-25 .359
5 Emily Rainey 9-11 .450
6 Julie Rainey 9-10 .474
Not one Stewartville player crossed the .500 mark; not every Jordanaire was over the .500 mark though. Three, however made the .600 mark.

Next up: AAA finals

Out & About: Minneota/Bethlehem Academy

#3 posting 11.11.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

A FINALS
MINNEOTA 3, BETHLEHEM ACADEMY 1
25-23, 25-17, 21-25, 25-19

Minneota won the championship rematch over Bethlehem Academy for their first title in three tries.

In game one Minneota came out with seven straight fbso and held a commanding 18-7 before BA to their first point off their serve. BA didn't help their cause either with three straight missed serves. It was 5-3 before the first missed serve, it was 12-6 after they got the ball back. Minneota put it up to 24-10, but it BA after a side out started a huge run on Liz Schlobohm's serve. Holly Hafemeyer was delivering in the front as they edged back to 24-14 when Minneota reluctantly took a time out. But the points kept coming, and coming, and coming. BA cut it to 24-21 when it appeared that Samantha Hennen wiped a ball off a block, but she or another Minneota player got caught in the net. That brought another time out from Minneota. On the next ball Hafemeyer put a kill down to make it a one point game. It was Hafemeyer's 6th point in the 12 point serve by Schlobohm. Minneota was able to escape on Samantha Hennen's wipe just like before, but this time she avoided the net.

Both teams traded side outs to start game two. Claire Kopfmann from Minneota was the first to break through the fbso as Hayley Hennen dumped the ball for point four. Minneota built the lead up to 7-4, but soon BA tied it at 8. On Leah Fadness' serve Minneota took a 15-11 lead, BA tried to stop it at 14-11 with a time out after a BA hitting error. But it was 10-2 run that put Minneota in the driver's seat 21-13. BA had one last gasp at 21-16, but lightning didn't strike twice. Minneota got their mojo back with a Steph Boulton kill, and then Boulton serve two aces to make it 24-17. After her missed serve Samantha Hennen again ended matters with a kill from the right side off a kill that was grazed by BA.

Neither team delivered a strong fbso game in the third frame. BA got points off their first serve for the first time. The only time they didn't lead was when Hayley Hennen got a point off a BA hitting error on the very first serve. BA had runs of 3, 5, 3, and 5 again that put them on the verge at 23-14. But now it was Minneota's turn to put the fear of the volleyball gods on BA. with the score 24-15 Samantha Hennen fought off game point with a slide kill. It was Boulton at the service line as she converted five points. BA had to take a reluctant time out at 24-19. Samantha Hennen was putting up three straight blocks from Minneota points 18-20. Fadness had a kill for point 21. The run ended their with a Hafemeyer kill to make it 2-1.

Minneota took control of game four with two runs of three on a 7-2 run to make it 8-3. Minneota had five kills in the run, all by a different player. BA took a time out and it seemed to be the tonic. They picked up four points, three on Minneota hitting errors. Boulton put down a kill to end that and then served up three points to make it 12-7. The Minneota lead ballooned out to 18-10 and BA was out of time outs after a stoppage at 15-9. Minneota's fbso game delivered again with 7/8 to start this stanza. BA did fight and had a run of four on Nicole Pothen's serve. Again it was Hafemeyer providing hope for BA. She scored six of the next eight BA points. The closest BA would get would be 20-16. Leading the charge for Minneota to get some distance between the two teams was Boulton with two straight kills for points 21, and 22. She also delivered points 24 on a kill. The game ended on an anticlimatic missed serve that sailed wide.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
MINNEOTA
1 Hayley Hennen, S, 5-6, 2007, 0-0-2---2
2 Leah Fadness, OH, 5-6, 2010, 1-0-3--4
3 Claire Kopfmann, MH, 5-10, 2008, 0-1.5-13---14.5
4 Alyssa Buysse, RH, 5-10, 2007, 2-0.5-11---13.5
5 Steph Boulton, OH, 5-8, 2008, 3-0-19--22
6br Brooke Minnehan, L, 5-6, 2007, 0-0-0---0
6fr Samantha Hennen, MH, 5-6, 2010, 0-4-10--14
Totals: 6-6-58--70 points; 26 points on BA errors

BETHLEHEM ACADEMY
1 Sammy Von Ruden, OH, 5-7, 2007, 0-0-4---4
2 KariAnne Nass, S, 5-6, 2010, 0-0.5-4--4.5
3 Nicole Pothen, L, 5-7, 2008, 1-0-0---1
3fr Laura Slinger, MH, 5-10, 2008, 0-1-10---11
4 Brittany DeGrood, OH, 5-6, 2007, 1-0-2---3
5 Liz Schlobohm, RH, 5-10, 2008, 0-0-3--3
5 Stephanie Meschke, RH 5-10, 2009, 0-0-3---3
6 Katy Howell, DS, 5-8, 2007, 1-0-0---1
6fr Holly Hafemeyer, MH, 6-1, 2010, 0-7.5-16--23.5
Totals: 3-9-42--54 points; 30 points from Minneota errors

Here is the MSHSL box account.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Hayley Hennen

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Minneota 28/44---.636; 96; .729; .357
Bethlehem Academy 14/43---.326; 84; .643; .271
Clearly the fbso game favored Minneota to a great degree. Minneota also had three players in double figures with kills, while BA had Hafemeyer and Slinger. The Block game favored BA, but Minneota served better and hit better too.

ROTATIONS POINTS
MINNEOTA
1 Hennen 13-11 .542
2 Fadness 19-14 .576
3 Kopfmann 18-14 .563
4 Buysse 20-28 .417
5 Boulton 16-8 .667
6 Minnehan 10-9 .526

BETHLEHEM ACADEMY
1 Von Ruden, 13-11 .542
2 Nass 11-18 .379
3 Pothen 14-18 .438
4 DeGrood 14-20 .412
5 Schlobohm 27-18 .600
6 Howell 5-10 .333
BA was hamstrung by the few points off rotation two. Three other rotations in the BA order outscored it. There were two rotations that were north of .600. Boulton was fairly strong throughout the contest. Schlobohm lived it up in game one with the 12-1 run. Without that her rotation would be 15-17.

next up: AA Finals

Coaching Openings 2007

COLLEGE
D1
Montana State
Oakland
D2
Bemidji State

MINNESOTA HS
Apple Valley
Central Christian
Wabasha-Kellogg

UMD/Concordia St.Paul Rematch

#2 posting 11.11.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information
D1 INDEPENDENT TOURNAMENT
North Dakota State is hosting this Independent Tournament and split their opening two games in pool play. They beat Texas Pan Am 3-1 and then went to a marathon with IPFW 2-3. This was despite outhitting IPFW .325 to .211. Sheila Parrish tied a 5 game kill mark for NDSU with 33.
South Dakota State also split. They swept Providence, but in turn was swept by Utah Valley State.

D2 NORTH CENTRAL TOURNAMENT
Both top seeds move on for the third confrontation of the year, and this is for all the marbles. #2 UM Duluth beat Augustana in four. #1 Concordia St. Paul, the hosts, also won in four over Wayne State. Both teams won at home. UMD would have to break that trend today. It will be the fourth straight region final between the two teams.

D3 MIDWEST REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
It will be an all WIAC final in the Midwest Regional as Whitewater beat St. Thomas in a sweep, while host UW Eau Claire stopped Concordia Moorhead's run in a fiver.
The AVCA named their All American teams and Becca Shane of Concordia Moorhead, Dana Alf of UW Platteville and Leah Rosenbaum, UW Oshkosh are on the first team. Carly Freiborg, UW Eau Claire and Renville County West made the Second team.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
D1
ASSISTS
5 games
Mattie Johnson, North Dakota State 82 vs IPFW 2-3
4 games
Mattie Johnson, North Dakota State 55 vs Texas Pan Am 3-1
KILLS
5 games
Sheila Parrish, North Dakota State 33 vs IPFW 2-3
4 games
Sheila Parrish, North Dakota State 20 vs Texas Pan Am 3-1

D2
ASSISTS
4 games
Katie Gangelhoff, UM Duluth 68 vs Augustana 3-1
Maggie McNamara, Concordia St. Paul 61 vs Wayne State 3-1
Lisa Hoegh, Augustana 45 vs UM Duluth 1-3
DIGS
4 games
Chelsea Meierotto, UM Duluth 27 vs Augustana 3-1
Megan Graham, Concordia St. Paul 27 vs Wayne State 3-1
Kari Wolford, UM Duluth 20 vs Augustana 3-1
Abby Schmidt, Augustana 20 vs UM Duluth 1-3
KILLS
4 games
Kari Wolford, UM Duluth 27 vs Augustana 3-1
Kelsey Kyro, Concordia St. Paul 20 vs Wayne State 3-1

D3
ASSISTS
5 games
Carly Freiborg, UW Eau Claire 68 vs Concordia Moorhead 3-2
DIGS
5 games
Shanna Berger, UW Eau Claire 24 vs Concordia Moorhead 3-2

Next up: I am off to the HS tournaments, then the Gopher game. I would like to be at all the tournament finals, but time travel hasn't been perfected yet.

State Finals Set

#1 posting 11.11.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SIGNINGS
Minnesota inked four players: Hailey Cowles, Eden Prairie; Lauren Gibbemeyer, Cretin-Derham Hall; and Brook Dieter, Bloomington Kennedy and the only player from out of state Charde Phillps of Elyria, OH. The Mpls StarTribune also weighs in.

Annie Adams, Crosby-Ironton 6-3 MH signed with South Dakota State. She will play in an all star game in Bemidji on Nov. 19.

STATE TOURNAMENT SEMIS
AAA
It will be an All Lake Final with Chaska beating conference rival Eagan in three. From the Chaska Herald. They also have photos.
I already wrote the LN/Blaine story. See yesterday's stories.
If you want the mainstream here is the StarTribune.

Marshall advanced to the consolation semis with a four game win over Hibbing. From the Marshall Independent.
Wayzata beat Moorhead in the other consolation game 3-2. From the Fargo Forum.

Picks today: Chaska; Blaine; Marshall

AA
Jordan had another fiver with Pipestone and Stewartville beat LeSuer-Henderson in four.
No paper articles were found, but you can read the MSHSL Summaries.

St. Cloud Cathedral steamrolled Montevideo in the consolation semis in a bit of a pay back from a late season loss in the West Central championship. From the St. Cloud Times and West Central Tribune.
Lake of the Woods dropped Virginia in four to face SCC. From the Duluth News Tribune.
Picks today: Stewartville, LSH, LOW

A
The Camden clash between Minneota and Central Christian went five. I saw the last three games of this match and did a little writing about it. Also a story from the Marshall Independent and the West Central Tribune. So the StarTrib and St. Paul Pioneer Press chime in.
They will meet Bethlehem Academy a sweep winner over Climax-Fisher. From the Grand Forks Herald.
Meadow Creek beat Bertha-Hewitt in five.
Picks today: Bethlehem Academy; Central Christian; Meadow Creek

LATE QUARTERFINAL
A
Climax-Fisher's win over Littlefork-Big Falls is detailed in the Crookston Times.

COACHING NEWS
Walt Weaver's retirement at Apple Valley has been published before, but here is the local ThisWeek paper in AV with more details.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
AAA
ASSISTS
5 games
Holly Dale, Wayzata 47 vs Moorhead 3-2

DIGS
5 games
Taylor Fieldsted, Lakeville North 31 vs Blaine 3-2
Lindsey Baumgartner, Blaine 30 vs Lakeville North 2-3
Julie Droegemueller, Wayzata 27 vs Moorhead 3-2
Jessica Granquist, Blaine 27 vs Lakeville North 2-3
Amy Braun, Lakeville North 21 vs Blaine 3-2
4 games
Shay Birath, Marshall 22 vs Hibbing 3-1
Breanna Chamernick, Hibbing 21 vs Marshall 1-3

KILLS
5 games
Meghan Ellis, Wayzata 22 vs Moorhead 3-2

AA
ASSISTS
5 games
Ashley Weatherly, Pipestone 51 vs Jordan 2-3
Amanda Dietel, Jordan 50 vs Pipestone 3-2

DIGS
5 games
Ashley Lorenzen, Pipestone 20 vs Jordan 2-3

KILLS
5 games
Brittany Chambers, Jordan 32 vs Pipestone 3-2
Leah Dietel, Jordan 24 vs Pipestone 3-2
4 games
Carlie Waibel, Lake of the Woods 20 vs Virginia 3-1

A
ASSISTS
5 games
Hayley Hennen, Minneota 49 vs Central Christian 3-2

DIGS
5 games
Brooke Minnehan, Minneota 36 vs Central Christian 3-2
Casey Fregeau, Meadow Creek 33 vs Bertha-Hewitt 3-2
Kresson Vreeman, Central Christian 25 vs Minneota 2-3
Steph Boulton, Minneota 20 vs Central Christian 3-2
Kayla Kempe, Bertha-Hewitt 20 vs Meadow Creek 2-3

KILLS
5 games
Claire Kopfmann, Minneota 26 vs Central Christian 3-2
Kelsey Lindberg, Meadow Creek 25 vs Bertha-Hewitt 3-2
3 games
Kacie Fortmann, Climax-Fisher 20 vs Bethlehem Academy 0-3

Next up: the College Tournament recap from last night.

Out & About: Minnesota/Illinois

#5 posting 11.10.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MINNESOTA 3, ILLINOIS 0
30-22, 30-24, 30-23

Minnesota got back on the winning track and took out last week's Michgan loss on Illinois. Illinois looked like they were just going through the motions to play out the season.
Minnesota was able to get many second line players in the game and, for the most part, didn't suffer a severe drop in production.

The stories from each school are here for Minnesota and Illinois with a box as well.


NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Minnesota 29/46---.630; 90; .789; .391
Illinois 21/45---.467; 69; .754; .211

ROTATION POINTS
MINNESOTA
1 Tan 12-12 .500
2 Peniata 26-18 .591
3 Bowman 14-12 .538
4 Crumpston 14-10 .583
5 Nelson 12-8 .600
6 Hartmann 14-8 .636
Totals : 90-69 .566

Hartmann's rotation is sharpening up. For most of the season it was sub .500. All the numbers were healthy except rotation 1.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Out & About: Minneota/Central Christian

#4 posting 11.10.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

A SEMIFINALS
MINNEOTA 3, CENTRAL CHRISTIAN 2
22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 21-25, 15-12

The original idea was to watch this game in full, but the LN/Blaine game started about 20 minutes late because the Wayzata/Moorhead game ran late. Then that game also went a nailbiting five. After the game I needed to eat, so by the time I went over to court 1 (LN/B was on court 2) the game was already done with two games. So I will just give a brief idea of the games.

More runs, less fbso in game three. Minneota had lefty Alyssa Buysse serve up six points. To give you an idea how quick this game was it was over in 8 servers. No one could stop any one.

In game four Minneota built a 5-1 lead, but never halted Central Christian's chances and they took the lead at 17-12. Both teams got their fbso mojo back in this game and Central Christian slammed the door on Minneota the last 8 of 9 servers. CC did close to 23-20, but the fbso did the trick. This pushed the match to five games.

This game had the flavor of game three where everybody scored and runs came in bunches. There were five runs of three or more by both teams combined out of 11 possible servers. Claire Kopfmann of Minneota ended the game with a kill out of the middle. She also had the largest run of four service points starting off with an ace.

MINNEOTA
1 Hayley Hennen, S, 5-6, 2007, 1-0-1---2
2 Leah Fadness, OH, 5-6, 2010, 1-0-1---2
3 Claire Kopfmann, MH, 5-10, 2008, 2-3.5-10--15.5
4 Alyssa Buysse, RH, 5-10, 2007, 1-1.5-6---8.5
5 Steph Boulton, OH, 5-8, 2008, 0-0.5-5---5.5
6 Brooke Minnehan, L 5-6, 2007 0-0-0---0
6fr Samantha Hennen, MH, 5-6, 2010, 0-1.5-4--5.5
Totals: 5-7-27---39 points, 22 points on Central Christian errors

CENTRAL CHRISTIAN
1 Kresson Vreeman, S, 5-8, 2007, 2-0-8---10
2 Kaitlyn Link, OH, 5-7, 2008, 1-0-0---1
3 Moriah Gulbranson, L, 5-7, 2007, 1-0-0---1
4 Cassandra Ulferts, S, 5-9, 2008, 0-0-4---4
5 Jennifer Blom, OH, 5-7, 2007, 0-0-2---2
6 Rachelle Marcus, OH, 5-6, 2011, 0-0-0---0
*Abby Tebben, OH, 5-8, 2008, 0-0-3---3
* Kari Mulder, MH, 5-10, 2007, 0-0-3---3
* Tara Frikke, MH, 5-8, 2007, 0-0-3
Totals: 4-0-23---27 points, 26 points on Minneota errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Claire Kopfmann

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Minneota 15/28---.536; 61; .639; .491
Central Christian 14/29---.483; 53; .509; .361
If you want the real full stats try the MSHSL site. Both teams allowed way too many points.

ROTATION POINTS
MINNEOTA
1 Hennen 15-10 .600
2 Fadness 12-14 .462
3 Kopfmann 9-8 .529
4 Buysse 11-9 .550
5 Boulton 5-7 .417
6 Minnehan 9-5 .643

CENTRAL CHRISTIAN
1 Vreeman 11-7 .611
2 Link 10-16 .385
3 Gulbranson 11-12 .478
4 Ulferts 10-5 .667
5 Blom 4-8 .333
6 Marcus 7-13 .350
Vreeman was in the front row on Ulferts serve.

Next up: Minnesota vs Illinois in Big 10 action

Out & About: Lakeville North/Blaine

#3 posting 11.10.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AAA SEMIFINALS
LAKEVILLE NORTH 3, BLAINE 2
18-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-22, 15-12

Lakeville North came back with one foot in the grave to advance to the finals in AAA. LN was down 2-0 and on the verge in game three trailing 23-22 before Kelsey Brandl took control. They then took the last two from a Blaine team that may have opened a few eyes today.

The story of this game, as in all games, is one of first ball side out (fbso). In the first 25 LN servers Blaine had the door barred to any scoring with a .760 fbso %. But toward the end of game two a shift started. Blaine couldn't get the fbso on the last two serves. LN outscored Blaine 7-3 in that game. Blaine's fbso in the last three games was .417. It was a reverse mirror image for LN. LN was .480 in the first two games, .606 for the last three. The breakdown started with Blaine errors, with passing and hitting errors piling up and LN hung around. They started to get their mojo back and felt good about themselves. They were more aggressive on the serve, and played air tight defense. Jessica Granquist of Blaine had 11 kills in the first two games, but only five the next two, zero in game five. The left side attack that was piling up points in the first frames was shut down late. In game five only two of the 8 points came off left side attacks. Blaine had better success from the right side.

In game one Blaine controlled the action and looked confident. They sided out 8 of the first 9 LN servers. They led 20-12 when they didn't get the fbso on the last two LN servers. That pushed the game to 23-18 and Blaine took their first time out. A hitting error, and then a block from Jackie Kelly ended the first frame.

Both teams werre in fbso mode with 10 of the first 11 over and out in one serve. But runs were few and far between for Blaine. They did have two runs of three twice early with points 11-13, and hen 14-16. Their final 3 run occured with 19-21. Ari Mewhorter had a kill and a block to but Blaine up 23-17. LN came back with three straight, but missed the serve to keep it alive. Blaine only needed one more, but Dani Roers had a kill for the fbso on Cook's serve. Kayla Kirby then tied the game at 24 with three more points. Brandl had a hand in two of the points. Granquist got the side out, and then Brandl missed on a slide attack that drifted to close to the scorer's table. Blaine had a hard fought game two win.

Game three was the pivot point. LN had the early advantage after Brandl's serve up 8-5. Lindsey Baumgartner got Blaine back into the mix with four service points all the result of Cook kills. Blaine led 14-11. Blaine maintained the advantage up to 21-19. Taylor Fieldsted was able to squeeze two points. The first point came on a hitting error. Blaine took a time out, and Brandl then blocked a Cook attack. LN's own hitting error gave the ball back to Blaine tied up at 22. Cook had a block to give Blaine a 23-22 lead. Brandl got the side out and then on Torey Broback's serve Dani Roers put down a kill and then Brandl finished it with her own.

LN led 8-6, but Blaine did have a spurt of four straight points to take a 12-10 lead off of Baumgartner's serve. But the fbso game was shifting to LN. Blaine was 3/7 with the last seven servers; LN 5/7. LN regained the lead and momentum at 15-13. Blaine burned a time out and did get the ball back with a Mewhorter tip kill. Blaine closed to 21-19, but LN deliverd three points to hold a commanding 24-19 lead. Granquist had a kill from the back row and then two points to make it 24-22. Brandl again finished with a kill after a LN time out.

LN won the serve and Brandl delivered the first point via the block. Blaine did not get fbso on the last five LN servers. LN built the lead to 13-7 when Jackie Kelly took over. She had a dump for the side out and then served up four points. Cook had two kills, while Mewhorter twice blocked Brandl. LN got the ball back on a Cook hit the sailed behind the service line. This time it was Dani Roers putting the ball on the floor for point 15.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
LAKEVILLE NORTH
1br Taylor Fieldsted, L, 5-6, 2008, 0-0-0---0
1fr Amanda Anderson, MH, 5-11, 2007 0-1-6---7
2 Torey Broback, DS, 5-9, 2007 1-0-0----1
2fr Kristen Zeise, RH, 5-11, 2008, 0-0-0---0
3 Kayla Kirby, DS 5-5, 2008 0-0-0---0
3fr Dani Roers, OH, 5-9, 2007 0-0-15---15
4 Kelsey Brandl, MH, 6-2, 2008, 1-4.5-16---21.5
4 Lindsey Weaver, Server, 5-3, 2008, 1-0-0---1
5 Cori Revsbeck, S, 5-7, 2007, 0-0.5-0----0.5
5fr Kirsten Ostergaard, S, 5-9, 2008, 0-0-0---0
6 Amy Braun, OH, 5-10, 2009, 2-0-18---20
Totals: 5-6-55---66 points, 41 points on Blaine errors

BLAINE
1 Lindsey Baumgartner, MH, 5-11, 2007, 0-0.5-10---10.5
2 Jackie Kelly, S, 5-8, 2007, 0-1.5-4---5.5
3 Kristin Cook, OH, 5-9, 2007, 0-0-18---18
3br Jane Ollila, L, 5-5, 2007, 0-0-1---1
3br Alex Suda, DS, 0-0-0---0
4 Ari Mewhorter, MH, 6-0, 2009, 1-8.5-13---22.5
4br Ashley Kuduk, DS, 5-4, 2007, 0-0-0---0
5 Molly Kreklow, S, 6-0, 2010, 1-1.5-1---3.5
6 Jessica Granquist, OH, 5-7, 2008, 1-0-16---17
Totals: 3-12-63---78 points, 30 points on Lakeville North errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Kelsey Brandl

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Lakeville North 32/61---.524; 107; .617; .278
Blaine 34/61---.557; 108; .722; .383
Looking at the State HS web site they give more detailed stats than I give. However they are more generous on kills, aces, and blocks LN had 8 more points earned according to them with Blaine earning six more.
Ironic fact: Blaine outscored LN by one in total points.

ROTATION POINTS
LAKEVILLE NORTH
1 Fieldsted 24-30 .444
2 Broback 20-15 .571
3 Kirby 17-17 .500
4 Brandl/Weaver 20-13 .606
5 Revsbeck 11-14 .440
6 Braun 15-19 .441
totals 107-108 .498
Weaver, Apple Valley coach Walt Weaver's daughter, came in game four and served up five points in two rotations. She added two more in game five.

BLAINE
1 Baumgartner 26-20 .565
2 Kelly 25-21 .543
3 Cook 16-20 .444
4 Mewhorter 16-16 .500
5 Kreklow 14-16 .467
6 Granquist 11-14 .440
Totals: 108-107 .502


Next up: A Seminfals: Minneota/Central Christian

Lake Conference Invitational

#2 posting 11.10.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

HS RECAP
AAA
The Semis look like a Lake conference invitational. Blaine is the only non Laker to crash the party.
Chaska was the first in after they swept Wayzata. From the Chaska Herald.
Lakeville North's game with Marshall leads the Star Tribune's AAA Coverage. From the Marshall Independent and Pioneer Press too.
I told you about the other games yesterday.

AA
LeSueur-Henderson took out Virginia in three 13, 18, 12. From the Mankato Free Press, also in the Duluth News Tribune.
They are joined in the semis with Minnesota River rival Jordan. They beat St. Cloud Cathedral in five in the longest match yesterday. from the St. Cloud Times.
I wrote about the Stewartville/Lake of the Woods game last night. Now the Grand Forks Herald tells their side.
Pipestone topped Montevideo in four. From the Worthington Daily Globe and West Central Tribune.

A
Minneota rolled into the semis with a 9, 19, 15 sweep over Meadow Creek Christian. From the Marshall Independent.
Climax-Fisher downed Littlefork-Big Falls in a sweep. From the Grand Forks Herald.
Central Christian advanced with a four game win over Bertha-Hewitt. From the West Central Tribune.
Bethlehem Acadmey also won with a sweep over Wheaton. You have to be a subscriber to read the Faribault Daily News however.

The StarTribune has very brief summaries of the AA/A action.

SIGNING
April Hansen, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa signed with UM Duluth. The 6-1 MH was Central MN conference player of the year.

ALL CONFERENCE
The Little 8 released their all conference list and Ashley Peterson of Underwood was the MVP of the league. From the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
AA
Amanda Dietel, Jordan 57 vs St. Cloud Cathedral 3-2

DIGS
5 games
AAA
Taylor Fieldsted, Lakeville North 20 vs Marshall 3-2
AA
Brittany Chambers, Jordan 20 vs St. Cloud Cathedral 3-2
4 games
A
Kresson Vreeman, Central Christian 27 vs Bertha-Hewitt 3-1
3 games
A
Lauren Kracht, Wheaton 23 vs Bethlehem Academy 0-3

KILLS
5 games
AAA
Amanda Beekman, Marshall 22 vs Lakeville North 2-3
AA
Leah Dietel, Jordan 32 vs St. Cloud Cathedral 3-2
Brittany Chambers, Jordan 27 vs St. Cloud Cathedral 3-2
Anna Zyvoloski, St. Cloud Cathedral 20 vs Jordan 2-3

Next up: later today with tournament action

Semifinals Set for D2, D3 Regions

#1 posting 11.10.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHER WEEKEND
The MN Daily highlights the upcoming weekend. They will try to shake that unexpected loss to Michigan. Illinois and Northwestern may face some Gopher wrath. It is also "Hometown" days today for Kelly Bowman and Malama Peniata.

NORTH CENTRAL TOURNAMENT
#6 Augustana upset #3 Nebraska Omaha in a sweep 28, 24, 27. They now face UM Duluth.

#2 UM Duluth advanced to the semis after a sweep of MSU Mankato 28, 24, 25.

#1 Concordia St. Paul didn't have the problems they had with Northern State last week in a 24, 19, 14 sweep. CSP's Maggie McNamara set a school record with 1864 assists.

#4 Wayne State ended SW MN State's season in four games. After a split of the first two games Wayne State won 24, 27. From the Marshall Independent.

D3 MIDWEST REGIONAL
St. Thomas upset UW Oshkosh in five. St. Thomas had their backs to the wall down 2-1.

Concordia Moorhead went four games to down Beloit.

Eau Claire had to go five to beat Carthage. They too trailed 2-1 before mounting their rally. The final game went extra points 17-15.

In the Midwest region has named its all region team and Tim Mosser, Concordia Moorhead was named coach of the year.

Azerbaijan upset the United States in five games in the World championships. Azerbawho? the US knows now not to overlook teams. From the Pioneer Press.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
D3
Carly Freiborg, Eau Claire 61 vs Carthage 3-2
Leah Stumpf, Oshkosh 50 vs St. Thomas 2-3
4 games
D2
Brittany Coleman, Wayne State 52 vs SW MN State 3-1
3 games
D2
Katie Agnew, UN Omaha 49 vs Augustana 0-3
Maggie McNamara, Concordia St. Paul 49 vs Northern State 3-0
Katie Gangelhoff, UM Duluth 47 vs MSU Mankato 3-0

DIGS
5 games
D3
Katie Kremer, St. Thomas 23 vs Oshkosh 3-2
Katie Beining, Oshkosh 22 vs St. Thomas 2-3
Shanna Berger, Eau Claire 22 vs Carthage 3-2
Samantha Schmidt, Oshkosh 20 vs St. Thomas 2-3
4 games
D2
Laura Dolezal, Wayne State 31 vs SW MN State 3-1
Erin Contons, SW MN State 24 vs Wayne State 1-3
Sarah Quiram, SW MN State 23 vs Wayne State 1-3
D3
Anna Walden, Concordia Moorhead 25 vs Beloit 3-1
3 games
D2
Stacie Wemhoff, UN Omaha 27 vs Augustana 0-3
Abby Schmidt, Augustana 21 vs UN Omaha 3-0

KILLS
5 games
D3
Jodi Dunbar, Eau Claire 23 vs Carthage 3-2
Jessica Groh, Eau Claire 22 vs Carthage 3-2
Rachelle Dosch, St. Thomas 21 vs Oshkosh 3-2
4 games
D2
Erin Contons, SW MN State 29 vs Wayne State 1-3

Next up: HS recaps from yesterday

Out & About: Stewartville/Lake of the Woods

#4 posting 11.9.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AA QUARTERFINALS
STEWARTVILLE 3, LAKE OF THE WOODS 2
25-16, 25-27, 25-23, 25-18

Stewartville knocked out defending AA champion Lake of the Woods in four games. LOW was without coach Laurie Bitter who is serving a suspension handed down by the State HS League. This game featured two teams that were in the top 5 at the end of the year poll by the AP. This would be another reason to seed the tournament.

Stewartville trailed 4-1 to start the game, but forced LOW to burn a time out at 5-4 when Leigh Splittstoesser served up three points including point five. LOW had one last run where they led 9-8 on a Ashley Feldman kill. After a missed serve, Emily Rainey served up thre points to give Stewartville the lead for good at 12-9. LOW was not able to get their fbso game rolling and Stewartville slammed the door in LOW's face with a fbso ratio of 9/11.

Stewartville pushed the lead in game two 17-11 with five service points from Alex Nold. LOW took a time out at 16-11, but didn't get it back until another point was scored. LOW was able to get two points in two consecutive serves and cut the lead to 21-18 after a Feldman kill from the right side. On Carlie Waibel's serve LOW narrowed the gap further to 21-20. LOW took their first lead at 232-22 on a Stewartville hitting error. Splittstoesser tied it up on a back hand dump. Two side outs gave Stewartville a chance as Erin Ness put home a kil to make it 25-24 Stewartville. But they turned the ball back to LOW on a hitting error. They never gave it back as Nicole Olson had a kill and then a block to even the contest.

The third frame was tight throughout. Neither team had a lead larger than three points. LOW had the early 8-5 lead with two Feldman kills. They stayed in front up to Emily Rainey's serve. LOW did regain the lead at 22-21 when Waibel had a kill and a block. Stewartville's Amanda Thompson got the side out to tie it at 22. On Splittstoesser's serve Ness hammered home two kills and she added another on the side out to get point 25 in a critical game.

Stewartville scored at least three points on each of their first three serves. The first two points came on LOW errors. Stewie led 4-1 after Nold's serve. LOW closed to 7-6, but couldn't get the vital fbso on Laura Hoover's serve she pushed the lead to 10-6. LOW battled back to tie it at 15. But Splittstoesser got the side out on her patented back dump. Ness then dropped two kills for an 18-15 lead. Both teams traded side outs until ER's serve. She served out with four straight points. The last point a dump by Splittstoesser.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
STEWARTVILLE
1 Alex Nold, MH, 6-0, 2007, 2-1-11---14
2 Leigh Splittstoesser, S, 5-7, 2007, 2-0-4---6
3 Laura Hoover, Server, 5-8, 2007 3-0-0---3
3 Erin Ness, OH, 6-0, 2008, 0-4-9---13
4 Amanda Thompson, MH, 5-9, 2007, 0-2-8---10
5br Emily Rainey, DS, 5-6, 2009, 2-0-0---2
5fr Renee Waugh, RH, 5-11, 2007, 0-1-3---4
6 Julie Rainey, OH, 5-9, 2010, 0-1-8---9
Totals: 9-9-43---61 points, 39 points on LOW errors

LAKE OF THE WOODS
1 Courtney Bitter, S, 5-7, 2008 0-0-3---3
2 Ashley Nelson, DS, 5-6, 2008 0-0-0----0
2fr Jordan Marken, OH, 5-7, 2008, 0-0-1---1
3 Nicole Olson, MH, 6-0, 2007, 0-1-10---11
4 Lindsay Christianson, DS, 5-8, 2008, 0-0-0---0
4fr Ali Hasbargen, OH, 5-10, 2010, 0-0.5-2--2.5
5 Carlie Waibel, OH, 5-8, 2007, 2-2.5-13---17.5
6 Teresa Slick, L, 5-6, 2007, 0-0-0---0
6fr Ashley Feldman, MH, 6-2, 2010, 0-0-10---10
Totals: 2-4-40---46 points, 38 points on Stewartville errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Leigh Splittstoeser

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Stewartville 28/50---.560; 100; .610; .464
Lake of the Woods 25/51---.490; 84; .548; .390
Stewie had lights out fbso in game one, average the rest of the way, but never let LOW get on any huge rolls. Both teams had very nice setters. Both teams were extremely scrappy with long exhausting rallies. Teams would think they were on the road to celebration, but then had to come back and play after rabbits were pulled from hats. Both teams were similar with the attack game, but Stewartville had a better block game and served much more successfully.

ROTATION POINTS
STEWARTVILLE
1 Nold 23-20 .535
2 Splittstoesser 24-20 .545
3 Hoover 15-11 .577
4 Thompson 12-12 .500
5 Emily Rainey 18-11 .621
6 Julie Rainey 8-10 .444

LAKE OF THE WOODS
1 Bitter 15-22 .405
2 Nelson 24-18 .571
3 Olson 9-14 .391
4 Christianson 12-15 .444
5 Waibel 12-14 .462
6 Slick 12-17 .414
Stewie only had one sub 500 rotation, while LOW only put one over that marker.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Out & About: Blaine/Hibbing

#3 posting 11.9.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AAA QUARTERFINALS
BLAINE 3, HIBBING 0
25-21, 25-23, 25-17

Blaine had more weapons, better athletes, and better defense in the sweep of Hibbing. Five Bengals had five or more kills whereas not one Hibbing player got to that level. For the game Blaine had 41 kills to 16 for Hibbing. In fact Blaine had more kills than Hibbing produced for earned points. They will face Lakeville North, a 3-2 winner over Marshall.

Blaine took control of the first game with a four point run on the serve of Jackie Kelly to make it 10-6. Next up Kristin Cook delivered four more including two straight aces to make it 15-7 Blaine. Hibbing called a time out after the first ace. After the TO Cook served up a net hugger. Ali Mewhorter then served up three more to make it 19-9 and it looked like Blaine would cruise. Alia Cook put an end to that thought process with six points off her serve including three aces off her wicked serve. Blaine took the time out at 19-16 and got the ball right back on a Lindsey Baumgartner kill. Both teams traded side outs and Blaine scored their last two points on Mewhorter fbso.

Blaine again took command with a 8-4 lead on five service points from Jessica Granquist. Cook had two kills during the run. Hibbing fought back and took a 14-13 lead because Blaine didn't side out for four straight Bluejacket servers. An ace by Nicole Nyberg gave Hibbing their first lead and force Blaine to talk about it. Blaine was mired in a six straight service drought with fbso game humming for Hibbing. That broke on Jackie Kelly's serve. She broke a 17 tie with an ace and then added five more points with Mewhorter providing a kill and a block in the run. Blaine led 23-17, but Hibbing wasn't done yet. Breanna Chamernick had five straight points off her serve to make it 23-22. Amber Brant provided two straight kills to close the margin. A kill by Molly Kreklow from the left side on a touch ball put Blaine on the verge. The turned it over on Cook's missed serve, but Mewhorter ended it with a kill 25-23.

Blaine again had the early lead with Granquist serving up three points on a 6-1 lead. Hibbing tied it right up at six with Amber Brant providing two straight aces to six. Both team got their fbso game going with Blaine stopping Hibbin seven straight times, and Hibbing returning the favor four. Granquist broke the pattern with an ace, Baumgartner got one point off her serve. Cook delivered three points on her serve to make it 22-16. Her first two were aces and Hibbing had to stop that at 20-16, but again Cook had an ace after the TO. Hibbing got the ball back on a net serve, but never scored again. Baumgartner had a slide kill to finish the game.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
BLAINE
1 Ali Mewhorter, MH, 6-0, 2009, 1-3-10---14
1br Ashley Kuduk, DS, 5-4, 2007 0-0-0---0
2 Molly Kreklow, S, 6-0, 2010, 0-0-4---4
3 Jessica Granquist, OH, 5-7, 2008, 1-0-7---8
4 Lindsey Baumgartner, MH, 5-11, 2007, 0-1-8--9
5 Jackie Kelly, S, 5-8, 2007, 2-0.5-1--3.5
6fr Kirstin Cook, OH, 5-9, 2007, 4-0.5-11--15.5
6br Jane Ollila, L, 5-5, 2007, 0-0-0---0
Totals: 8-5-41---54 points, 21 points on Hibbing errors

HIBBING
1br Lindsey Jacobson, DS, 5-8, 2007 2-0-0---2
1fr Alia Cook, MH, 6-2, 2008, 3-3-2---8
2 Nicole Nyberg, S, 5-6, 2007 2-0-0--2
3 Amber Brant, OH, 5-10, 2007 3-1-4---8
4 Chelsea Koth, MH, 5-10, 2008, 0-2-4---6
5 Kelsey Wirtanen, RH, 5-7, 2009, 0-0-1--1
5fr Kate Lange, RH, 5-11, 2010 0-0-3---3
6 Breanna Chamernick, OH, 5-6, 2008, 0-0-0---0
6g3 Paige Hardy, OH, 5-7, 2009, 0-0-2---2
Totals: 10-6-16---32 points, 29 points on Blaine errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Kristin Cook tough serving, and 11 kills gets her the nod.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Blaine 22/35--.629; 75; .720; .475
Hibbing 17/34---.500; 61, .525; .280
Blaine really didn't get their fbso game going until the final frame with 10/12. They were flirting with 50% in games one and two. Two players with 10 kills, and four with 7 or more shows the balance and versatility of the Blaine offense. Hibbing on the other hand, had no real chances to get in their flow, they were constantly reacting to the Blaine attack, never getting the ball where they wanted.
One potential problem for Blaine was their 14 missed serves on the night. It didn't bite them on the rear tonight, but I don't know if Lakeville North will be as forgiving.

ROTATION POINTS
BLAINE
1 Mewhorter 12-16 .393
2 Kreklow 8-6 .571
3 Granquist 17-11 .607
4 Baumgartner 11-8 .579
5 Kelly 15-13 .536
6 Cook 12-7 .632
totals 75-61 .551

HIBBING
1 Jacobson/Cook 15-9 .625
2 Nyberg 10-12 .455
3 Brant 11-15 .423
4 Koth 7-10 .412
5 Wirtanen 8-19 .296
6 Chamernick 10-10 .500
Totals: 61-75 .449
Blaine altered their service order from Kelly as #1 to Mewhorter #1. Mewhorter was sub .400 on the day, but Cook delivered the top performace at .632. Hibbing's 3-5 rotation were anemic.

Next up: I am going back to St. Paul to watch Lake of the Woods/Stewartville in the Marquee match up tonight. I was forced to leave the tournament this afternoon due to medical, business, and dog issues.

Out & About: Eagan/Moorhead

#2 posting 11.9.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AAA QUARTERFINALS
EAGAN 3, MOORHEAD 0
25-23, 25-19, 25-21

Moorhead led 20-15 in game one and 17-10 in game three, but couldn't close the deal. They had four more kills than Eagan, but Eagan committed 10 fewer errors. Eagan now plays Lake conference rival and defending state champ Chaska at 9 am. Chaska swept Eagan 17, 17, 15.

Eagan broke out of the pack with four points off Taylor Bohannon's serve to make it 10-7. Katie Hofstad, who stated, knocked down two kills to get the points flowing. Moorhead took the lead on a huge run of six straight points on Katelyn Schwartzenberger's serve. Jenny Cerar had a block and a kill for Spud points. Eagan took a time out at 16-13, but didn't get the side out for one more serve. Moorhead built the lead up to 20-15 on Kate Grogan's kill, but on Grogan's serve a Cerar hitting error from the back row gave the ball back to Eagan. Four points later the game was tied after Malia Paleafei's serve. This is when Laurel Sanford took over with two kills sandwiching a block. Moorhead took their first time out at 20-18. Moorhead's Kaitlyn Rogalla put up two of her own blocks to give one last lead to the Spuds 22-20. Sanford again put up a block to get the ball into Bohannon's hands. She served up three points to put Eagan on the verge after a Kelsey Sparks kill. Moorhead's second time out at 22-22 went unheeded. Kaitlyn Kemp had a tip kill for the 25th Eagan point.

Eagan rolled right from the start in game two with a Sanford fbso kill and then Paleafei served up four to give the Wildcats a 5-0 lead. They never trailed in this frame. The closest Moorhead got was 6-4. Sanford had a series of three points out of Eagans four points from 15-18. Moorhead burned a time out to get back on track at 17-10. Moorhead's casue wasn't helped by six missed in this game. Eagan did take a time out after an ace by Cerar to make it 21-16. The last four Eagan points all came on Moorhead errors including the missed serve for 25.

Moorhead led 8-4 with four points off of Ashley Wheeler's serve. Rogalla had a kill and then a block for 7 and 8. The Spuds were rolling with Eagan forced to call time out at 12-6. It didn't stop the Moorhead momentum as they added two more points on Eldred's serve off Cerar kills to make it 14-6. But then Moorhead's fbso game left them and after a Sparks kill for side out scored three points off of Katie Joyce's serve including two aces. Moorhead regained a little momentum to put them up 17-10, but again Eagan came back with Leah Ehret serving two points to make it 17-14. The big blow out came on Sparks serve. She whipped up six points including an ace to give Eagan it's first lead in the third frame 20-18. Sanford again controlled the net with four points from 16-19, the first three blocks. Both teams traded side outs to make it 22-20. Paleafei had an ace to break the string. Sanford put them one point away with a kill. Andrea Burns postponed the Eagan celebration with a kill, but Kemp again ended the game and match with a kill.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
EAGAN
1br Leah Ehret, DS, 5-6, 2008, 1-0-0---1
1fr Katie Hofstad, OH, 5-10, 2008, 0-0-3---3
1fr Kathryn Kemp, OH, 5-11, 2007 0-0-6---6
2 Kelsey Sparks, MH, 5-10, 2008, 1-2-4---6
3br Kelsey Ammerman, DS, 5-8, 2008, 0-0-0---0
3fr Sarah Schwanz, RH 5-9, 2007 0-0.5-3---3.5
4 Malia Paleafei, OH, 5-7, 2008, 2-0-4---6
5 Taylor Bohannon, L, 5-6, 2008, 0-0-0---0
5fr Laurel Sanford, MH, 6-0, 2008 0-6.5-10---16.5
6 Katie Joyce, S, 5-9, 2008, 2-0-1---3
Totals: 6-9-31---46 points, 29 points off Moorhead errors

MOORHEAD
1br Leslie Eldred, L, 5-6, 2007 0-0-0--0
1frKaitlyn Rogalla, MH, 6-0, 2009, 0-3-2---5
2 Katelyn Schwartzenberger, S, 5-6, 2007 1-0-2---3
3 Jenny Cerar, OH, 5-9, 2007, 2-1-9---12
4 Kate Grogan, MH, 5-10, 2007, 0-2-5--7
5 Ashley Wheeler, RH, 5-11, 2007, 0-0-9---9
6 Andrea Burns, OH, 5-11, 2007, 0-3-2---5
6 Jessie Bourcy, OH, 5-9, 2007, 0-0-1---1
Totals: 3-6-35--44 points; 19 points off Eagan Errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Laurel Sanford

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Eagan 16/31--.516; 75; .613; .302
Moorhead 13/31--.419; 63; .698; .387
Neither team had outstanding strings of fbso. Eagan did play more consistently and didn't crack when down. Moorhead let two games slip through their fingers in large part because Sanford ruled the net.

ROTATION POINTS
EAGAN
1 Ehret 17-15 .531
2 Sparks 12-7 .632
3 Ammerman 9-9 .500
4 Paleafei 16-10 .615
5 Bohannon 13-11 .542
6 Joyce 8-11 .421
Totals: 75-63 .543

MOORHEAD
1 Eldred 11-11 .500
2 Schwartzenberger 16-9 .640
3 Cerar 13-17 .433
4 Grogan 7-12 .368
5 Wheeler 12-16 .429
6 Burns 4-10 .286
Totals 63-75 .457

If you notice Moorhead's 2nd rotation caused problems for Eagan. It was primarily the first game that Schwartzenberger lit up Eagan for six straight points on the second cycle through. Cerar had a hand in two points and Grogan also had two points during the serve. The next two games Schwartzenberger's rotation was a respectable 8-7, with a couple of two runs in game two and three.

Next up: Blaine/Hibbing

MN Miss Volleyball & All State Teams

#1 posting 11.9.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MISS VOLLEYBALL
Hailey Cowles, Eden Prairie added to her award shelf with the Miss Volleyball honor. From the Pioneer Press. In the same article the coaches All State teams are named.

STATE TOURNAMENT
The Pioneer Press features Eagan in their return to the tournament.

SIGNINGS
Tawny Dahmes, and Kimber Kuhl, Chaska has signed with Albany and MSU Mankato. Teammate Allie Oelke also signed yesterday with Creighton. The Chaska Herald has more on these three along with 6 other Chaska signers.

Now it is off to the state. It looks as if other obligations will force me home sooner than I thought.

next up: after I get back from the tournament

State Tournament Build Up

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

TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
I already gave you the picks in the upcoming state touranment, now here is the StarTribune's take on the upcoming tournament including players to watch, most of which were on the all metro team (if they were a metro team).
They have a feature on Lake of the Woods and their coach Laurie Bitter who was banned from this year's postseason.

Tomorrow I should be at the tournament for the duration. I was not bright enough to get a press pass. I missed out by 23 minutes. The deadline was high noon on Monday, and I didn't get around to checking until 12:23. That means I will not be taking my computer with and updating as the games are done. I will be providing information not found in the general media, but it will be after I get home.
You can check the action from the MSHSL site.

next up: tomorrow morning before the tournament.