Out & About: Eden Prairie/Bloomington Kennedy

#4 posting 10.31.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

6AAA SEMIFINALS
EDEN PRAIRIE 3, BLOOMINGTON KENNEDY 0
25-18, 25-23, 29-27

This game featured future Gophers Hailey Cowles from Eden Praire, and Brook Dieter from Kennedy and it was Cowles' team that limited their mistakes to advance to the championship, with some white knuckles late.

Neither team really had an advantage early, but the first 10 points for EP were all unearned which would be a theme for the night--kind of like treats on Halloween. EP took control of the game on Elise Bailey's serve with four points. Kennedy took a time out at 13-10, but Katie Vohnoutka added one kill for EP. Another theme in this match was the lack of siding out by either team. EP had four stretches where they scored three or more points. The last three points for EP in the first game all came on JFK errors.

EP grabbed the early 7-2 lead after Vohnoutka's serve. Again four points came on JFK errors. After that episode JFK did settle down and had six straight FBSO and as a result were tied at 14. Kennedy was getting mileage out of the D1 one-two punch of Dieter and Naomi Johnson, who is headed to Northwestern. On Johnson's serve JFK took the lead 20-19. Dieter's block game was controlling the net. EP tied it at 21 on Giles' serve. EP was on the verge of the win at 24-22 after a Cowles kill, but Ashley Suapaia fought off game point with a kill. On Dieter's serve Cowles got the critical kill for the win 25-23.

EP rolled early in game three 19-9. They had two runs of four and JFK was force to burn both time outs in an effort to stop the bleeding. Dieter got a kill out of the back row right after the second time out to start a JFK comeback. Kennedy went on a 14-5 run to lead 25-24. EP's FBSO system failed to get one in the next five Kennedy servers. Dieter had 8 of those points, Johnson had three including a net hugging ace for JFK's 15th point. EP took their first time out after that net hugger and then at 23-22 EP. Suapaia had the kill for point 25. Peterson answered to fight off game point for EP. A Dieter hitting error from the back row but EP on the verge. Suapaia again got the side out at 26. Cowles put the ball down for point 27. A hitting error by Giles tied it at 27. Cowles again got the side out and point 28. The game ended on a deep hitting error by Johnson.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
EDEN PRAIRIE
1br Elise Bailey, DS, x, 2007, 0-0-0---0
1fr Jessi Peterson, OH x, 2008, 0-0-9---9
2 Katie Vohnoutka, MH, x, 2008, 0-1.5-2--3.5
3 Hayley Buchanan, S, x, 2009, 0-0-0---0
4 Hailey Cowles, OH, x, 2007, 0-0.5-13--13.5
5 Courtney Giles, MH, x, 2007, 0-1-7--8
6 Lindsey Weber, DS, x, 2007, 0-0-0---0
6fr Kalin Stenhaug, RH, x, 2010, 0-1-2---3
Totals: 0-5-33--38 points, 41 points from Bloomington Kennedy errors

BLOOMINGTON KENNEDY
1 Brook Dieter, MH, x, 2007, 3-4.5-14--21.5
2br Katie Larson, L, x, 2009, 0-0-0---0
2fr Dayna Blair, RH, 0-1-0---1
3 Ashley Suapaia, OH, x, 2008, 1-0-9---10
4 Naomi Johnson, MH, x, 2007, 2-1.5-10--13.5
5 Erin Anderson, S, x, 2008, 0-0-1---1
6 Beth Butala, OH, x, 2007, 0-0-6---6
Totals: 6-7-41--54 points; 12 points from Eden Prairie errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Hailey Cowles for the fourth time this season

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, 1stso/serves--1stso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Eden Prairie 19/38---.500; 79; .481; .182
Bloomington Kennedy 18/39---.462; 66; .818; .519
FBSO wasn't at the top form tonight. JFK gave away too many points, over half, by hitting errors deep. EP didn't return the favor. This game was the first I have charted where the winning team didn't have over half the points earned. This may be a problem when facing Chaska on Thursday.

ROTATION POINTS
EDEN PRAIRIE
1 Bailey 19-11 .633
2 Vohnoutka 21-14 .600
3 Buchanan 11-11 .500
4 Cowles 9-15 .375
5 Giles 11-9 .550
6 Weber 8-9 .471

BLOOMINGTON KENNEDY
1 Dieter 14-22 .389
2 Larson 11-17 .393
3 Suapaia 10-11 .476
4 Johnson 13-10 .565
5 Anderson 14-9 .609
6 Butala 6-10 .375

Next up: tomorrow morning

Out & About: Chaska/Shakopee

#3 posting 10.31.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

6AAA Semifinals
CHASKA 3, SHAKOPEE 0
25-11, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23

I got to this game late due to traffic. It took over 40 minutes to inch along from the Crosstown to over the Minnesota River Bridge on 169.
Chaska led 9-7 in game one when I arrived with my black and red pens. keep that in mind when checking the numbers. they will be short.

Once I sat down Chaska took off from an 11-10 lead to a 22-11 lead after Kimber Kuhl's 11 straight service points. Allie Oehlke provided six of the points with 4 kills and 2 blocks. Shakopee did try to stop the carnage at 16-10 with a time out, but Chaska kept rolling.

Shakopee led early 6-4 after Maggie Geske's serve. Then Oelke stepped to the service line for Chaska and served up three points to make it 7-7 when she was finished. Chaska took the lead on their next server Bekah Saugen's two points. Chaska maintained the lead up to 17-16. Shakopee briefly took the lead at 18-17, but Chaska had a 4-1 run to lead 21-19. Shakopee got the side out on Maggie Geske's kill and then Jessica Menden served up four points with two more Geske kills to make it 24-21 Shakopee. Chaska called a time out and Oelke got the side out. They added one more on a Schroers hitting error. Geske got the sideout and the win on her kill coming off the right side off the serve.

Chaska jumped up out to an 11-5 lead after Tawny Dahmes four points on her serve. Shakopee took a time out at 8-4, but it didn't stop Chaska. The Hawks continued to add to their total with an 18-12 margin after Brittany Wenzel's serve. Shakopee did take their second time out at 17-11 and soon after put together five straight first ball side outs. With that string Shakopee cut the margin to 23-22 on Ashley Wittman's serve including an ace on point 22. Oelke and Wenzel combined for a block on Geske to halt the Shakopee run and Oelke finished it with a kill out of the middle for a 25-22 win.

Shakopee had an early 7-3 lead after Geske served up four straight points including an ace for point 7. Shakopee continued to hold the lead at 12-8 after Jessica Menden blocked an overpass kill attempt by Kuhl. Oelke got the side out on Mollie Geske's serve. Leah Saugen served up four straight to get right back in the game. Saugen had two points off aces and two off Maggie Geske Hitting errors that were just inches off. Shakopee took the lead at 18-17 after Kaitlin O'Brien's serve. Shakopee got a side out on Maggie Geske's kill to make it 23-22 Shako, but on Maggie Geske's serve Oelke pounded a kill to tie it up at 23. She then served the final two points of the night with a Shakopee hitting error, and a Dahmes kill.

rotation, player, position, ht, year, aces, blocks, kills-totals
CHASKA
1. Kimber Kuhl, MH, x, 2007, 2-2.5-6---10.5
2. Leah Saugen, OH, x, 2007, 2-.5-11---13.5
3. Brittany Wenzel, S, x, 2008, 0-1-2---3
4. Allie Oelke, MH, x, 2007, 0-3-17---20
5. Tawny Dahmes, OH, x, 2007, 0-0-17---17
6. Bekah Saugen, RH, x, 2010, 0-0-0---0
Totals: 4-7-53---64 points; 25 points on Shakopee errors

SHAKOPEE
1. Ashley Wittman, OH, x, 2010, 1-0-14--15
2br Mollie Geske, L, x, 2010, 0-0-0---0
2fr Megan Theis, MH, x, 2007, 0-0.5-4--4.5
3 Jessica Menden, S, x, 2008, 0-1.5, 2---3.5
4 Maggie Geske, OH, x, 2008, 2-0.5-16--18.5
5 Brittney Schoers, MH, x, 2007, 1-1.5-6---8.5
6br Kaitlin O'Brien, RH, x, 2007, 0-0-1---1
6fr Sam Erath, RH, x, 2007, 0-0-1---1
Totals: 4-4-44---52 points; 22 points on Chaska errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Allie Oelke

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, 1stso/serves--1stso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Chaska 29/47-.617; 89*; .719; .297
Shakopee 30/49-.612; 74*; .703; .281
Both teams played were fairly close in their skills and talent. Chaska was bigger in the middle, but the FBSO #s and points allowed and earned were pretty close.

ROTATION POINTS
CHASKA
1 Kuhl 22-10 .688
2 Saugen 16-21 .432
3 Wenzel 15-15 .500
4 Oehlke 15-7 .682
5 Dahmes 11-11 .500
6 Saugen 10-10 .500

SHAKOPEE
1 Wittman 16-12 .571
2 Mollie Geske 10-15 .400
3 Menden 15-17 .469
4 Maggie Geske 15-15 .500
5 Schroers 9-17 .346
6 O'Brien 9-12 .429

Kuhl's rotation ripped it up in game one. Oelke in the front row helped out that rotation. The two middles for Chaska had strong rotations.

Next up: Eden Prairie/Bloomington Kennedy

Henderson Verbals, Central Lakes Wins 4th Title

#2 posting 10.31.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

HENDERSON VERBALS
Melissa Henderson, Osseo has made a verbal to MSU Moorhead. Henderson is a 5-10 OH.

JUCO ACTION
Central Lakes won the State MCCC tournament on Saturday at Ridgewater CC in Willmar. They beat Ridgewater in the Championship. Ridgewater won the first game, but Central Lakes took the next three. It was Central Lakes' 4th straight state title. From the Brainerd Dispatch and West Central Tribune.
Here are the tournament results, plus the all tournament team.

There is also All Division and All State teams from the regular season play.

Next up: after the 6AAA semis tonight.

Gibbemeyer reaches 1000 Kills, Dietel 2000 Assists

#1 posting 10.31.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

POLLS
Minnesota remained at #12 in this weeks AVCA poll, but added points to their total. Penn State dropped one spot to #3. Wisconsin, the team that beat Penn State, is now #10. Ohio State still clings to the top 25 at #25.
Concordia St. Paul moves to #4 in the D2 poll. UM Duluth fell to #7. Northern Sun teams Wayne State is #21 and SW MN State is #23.

HONORS
Jackie Simpson, Wisconsin was named offensive player of the week in the Big 10.

In the North Central Ellen Thommes, UN Omaha, and Ashley Nachreiner, MSU Mankato shared the offensive award; Stef Sandstrom. MSU Mankato grabbed the setter award, and Andrea Oswald won the defensive trophy. It was the first time for each of these winners for their award this year. Oswald did win an offensive award on September 11.

In the Northern Sun it was a clean sweep for Waynes State: Emily Schroeder, took top offensive honors for the second time this year; Laura Dolezal won the defensive honor for the fourth time; and Brittany Coleman won the setter award for the fourth time too. Also in the press release are the conference tournament brackets.

MIAC winners were Liz Glesne from Bethel won the offensive honor and Julie Jenkins, Augsburg for the setter/defensive award. Both were first time winners. The MIAC playoffs start tonight.

D2 ACTION
NORTH CENTRAL
UM Duluth swept St. Cloud State. UMD never trailed in the match. UMD is 11-0 and could finish the NCC season undefeated becoming the first team to do so since 1991.

HS ACTION
4A
Meadow Creek beat PACT in three in the 4A quarterfinals.

MILESTONES
Lauren Gibbemeyer, Cretin-Derham Hall reached the 1000 kill mark in the Visitation 3AAA quarterfinal win.
Amanda Dietel, Jordan now has over 2000 career assists.

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: tonight after the 6AAA semifinals.

Cleaning Up the Weekend

#1 posting 10.30.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

YOUNGSTER COACH
Maria Ankrum is in her first year as head coach at Bethany Lutheran at the tender age of 22. From the Mankato Free Press.

D1 ACTION
Boise State rallied from a 2-0 deficit to top North Dakota State.

LATE REPORTS
The Non-weekend papers have reports on games held this Friday and Saturday.

The MN Daily recaps the two games this weekend with the win over Ohio State and the loss to Penn State.

Hibbing set the tone early with a sweep over Grand Rapids in 7AAA.
Chisholm continued on with sweep over Eveleth-Gilbert in 7A.
Both from Hibbing Daily Tribune.

Marshall swept New Ulm to move on in 2AAA. From the Marshall Independent.

This happy group is from Bigfork and they have just beat AlBrook in the 7A Tournament.
There will be more happy groups like this in the upcoming few days.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
D1
Mattie Johnson, North Dakota State 61 vs Boise State 2-3
3 games
AAA
Macie Michelson, Marshall 34 vs New Ulm 3-0

DIGS
5 games
D1
Kari Fagnan, North Dakota State 23 vs Boise State 2-3

KILLS
3 games
AAA
Amanda Beekman, Marshall 19 vs New Ulm 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: tomorrow morning

#7 Kenyon-Wanamingo Moves On

#2 posting 10.29.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MN HS SECTION ACTION
AAA
2
#6 Delano surprised #3 Litchfield in the only upset of a top seed in section two.
#1 Marshall beat New Ulm in a sweep 16 across.
#2 Hutchinson dodged a #7 Mankato East bullet in five. Hutch trailed 2-1.
4
The only higher seed to fall was #4 Champlin Park to #5 Totino-Grace in five. CP led 2-1, but TG won the final two including a 16-14 finale.
The other top seeds all moved on in sweeps.

AA
1
#1 Wabasha-Kellogg was down 2-1 before mounting their comeback against Fillmore Central. #3 Caledonia ended #7 Rushford-Peterson's upset string with a sweep.

#2 west Byron defeated #3 west Chatfield in 4 games.
The Bears came out on fire in the first game, leading 18-6 when Chatfield's setter, Heidi Meyer went down with a sprained ankle. Byron won that game 25-12.
Chatfield regrouped with a new setter, Amanda Swancutt and came back to win the second game 25-19.
Byron cut down on their own mistakes to take the 3rd game 25-19 and then finished the match with a 25-16 victory in the 4th game.
Ashley Pyfferoen had 17 kills, 17 digs, and 6 aces to lead the Bears. Jill Storlie added 13 kills, 4 ace blocks and 4 digs. Nicole Koester had 6 kills, 17 digs, and 4 ace serves, Racquel Reker had 5 kills, 9 digs, and 3 ace blocks. Steph Vosberg had 19 set assists and 4 digs and Brittlyn Olson had 19 set assists and 6 digs. Ginna Hanks had 7 digs Byron's record is now 23-5 and they face the Stewartville Tigers Thurs. night at Mayo Civic Center in the Subsection finals at 7:30 pm.
Chatfield stats: Erika Hurley 14 digs, Sara Harsted 14 digs, Sam Narveson 13 digs and 10 kills, Amanda Swancutt 18 set assists, Chatel LaPlante 4 blocks, Hannah Mesick 8 kills.
#1 Stewartville swept Kingsland to move on.
2
#7 East Kenyon-Wanamingo continued its quest for post season glory with a sweep of #6 NRHEG. They are the lowest seed still alive in the post season. They will face #1 Montgomery-Lonsdale in the east finals on November 2. ML beat Cannon Falls in four with the fourth game going 28-26.
The west half went as expected with #1 Belle Plaine and #2 LeSueur-Henderson picking up sweeps.
6
no word on Montevideo vs YME or MACCRAY vs Benson.

A
1
#1East Mabel-Canton took a measure of revenge against LeRoy-Ostrander in a sweep in the East Semifinals.
#2East Goodhue escaped with a 3-2 win over Lanesboro. Goodhue trailed 2-0 before taking the next three.
On the west side #1 Bethlehem Academy had a sweep, while #2 JWP went four with Glenville-Emmons.

LATE ACTION
United South Central lost to Belle Plaine on Thursday in three in 2AA West play. From the Albert Lea Tribune.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
AA
Brittany Vaplon, Wabasha-Kellogg 37 vs Fillmore Central 3-2
A
Robin Sautter, Lanesboro 36 vs Goodhue 2-3

DIGS
5 games
AA
Kelsey Tentis, Wabasha-Kellogg 22 vs Fillmore Central 3-2
A
Kendra Norby, Lanesboro 34 vs Goodhue 2-3

KILLS
5 games
AA
Jackie Hust, Wabasha-Kellogg 27 vs Fillmore Central 3-2
Danielle Peters, Wabasha-Kellogg 19 vs Fillmore Central 3-2
A
Alison Albers, Goodhue 23 vs Lanesboro 3-2
Bonnie Albright, Lanesboro 22 vs Goodhue 2-3
4 games
AA
Ashley Pyfferoen, Byron 17 vs Chatfield 3-1
3 games
A
Katelyn Horihan, Mabel-Canton 19 vs LeRoy-Ostrander 3-0
Tori Lind, Mabel-Canton 17 vs LeRoy-Ostrander 3-0

Next up: tomorrow morning if blogger (the host site) doesn't have issues.

Dobie 4000 Assist Milestone

#1 posting 10.29.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

D1 ACTION
Penn State's win over Minnesota for first place in the Big 10 is in the StarTribune.

Here are some more of my thoughts on the aftermath.
It will be an uphill climb to get the Big 10 championship for Minnesota. They have two tough road contests: Wisconsin Nov 15, and Purdue Nov 24.
Penn State takes on Purdue at home next Friday, while traveling to Ohio State on the 8th.

Also Penn State was going to be deadly focused after the Badger sweep.

Utah Valley State dropped North Dakota State in four.
Weber State had a four game win over South Dakota State.

D2 ACTION
NORTH CENTRAL
#4 UM Duluth went four with Augustana to win their third straight NCC championship.
North Dakota stopped St. Cloud State in four.
#19 UN Omaha swept South Dakota

NORTHERN SUN
#6 Concordia St. Paul tripped Mary in three and finished the NSIC season a perfect 18-0. They will host the NSIC tournament next weekend.
MSU Moorhead knocked off UM Crookston in three.
Northern State beat Upper Iowa in four.
#20 SW MN State went the distance against Winona State. Winona State did lead 2-1. Winona State's Lisa Dobie went over 4000 career assists in the match. The Winona Daily News has a story also.

D3 ACTION
ILLINOIS WESLEYAN INVITATIONAL
Stout lost to Illinois Wesleyan in a sweep and beat Monmouth in three.

LA CROSSE TRIANGULAR
LaCrosse won twice beating Augustana IL in three and getting St. Olaf in five after trailing 2-1.

RIVER FALLS TRICK OR TREAT TOURNAMENT
Bethel split on Saturday with wins over Lakeland and a loss to the host.
Superior lost twice to Millikin and River Falls.
River Falls, as if you didn't know, won twice and were undefeated in tournament play.
Eau Claire also won twice and didn't have a blemish on their record in four contests.

NAIA ACTION
UPPER MIDWEST
Martin Luther finished off UM Morris with two two point victories in game three and four
Northwestern MN held on to beat St. Scholastica in five after leading 2-0.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
D1
Rachel Hartmann, Minnesota 45 vs Penn State 2-3
D2
Sara Graf, SW MN State 64 vs Winona State 3-2
Lisa Dobie, Winona State 51 vs SW MN State 2-3
D3
Samantha Dries, LaCrosse 67 vs St. Olaf 3-2
Carly Freiborg, Eau Claire 61 vs Millikin 3-2
NAIA
Katie Berscheit, St. Scholastica 48 vs Northwestern MN 2-3
Sarah Zosel, Northwestern MN 46 vs St. Scholastica 3-2
4 games
D2
Katie Gangelhoff, UM Duluth 71 vs Augustana 3-1
Allison Louwagie, North Dakota 59 vs St. Cloud State 3-1

DIGS
5 games
D2
Lisa Dobie, Winona State 26 vs SW MN State 2-3
Sarah Quiram, SW MN State 24 vs Winona State 3-2
D3
Shanna Berger, Eau Claire 26 vs Millikin 3-2
NAIA
Steph Koth, Northwestern MN 32 vs St. Scholastica 3-2
Diana Moody, St. Scholastica 22 vs Northwestern MN 2-3
4 games
D1
Kari Fagnan, North Dakota State 31 vs Utah Valley State 1-3
D2
Whitney Meierotto, UM Duluth 22 vs Augustana 3-1
Chelsea Meierotto, UM Duluth 22 vs Augustana 3-1
Kari Wolford, UM Duluth 21 vs Augustana 3-1
3 games
D3
Kelsey Scheele, River Falls 20 vs Bethel 3-0

KILLS
5 games
D2
Erin Contons, SW MN State 27 vs Winona State 3-2
D3
Jodi Dunbar, Eau Claire 26 vs Millikin 3-2
Jessica Groh, Eau Claire 22 vs Millikin 3-2
NAIA
Kathryne Engel, Northwestern MN 24 vs St. Scholastica 3-2
4 games
D2
Rachel Langseth, UM Duluth 22 vs Augustana 3-1
Kari Wolford, UM Duluth 20 vs Augustana 3-1
Britta Hanson, North Dakota 20 vs St. Cloud State 3-1

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: Saturday Section results in MN HS Action.

Out & About: Penn State/Minnesota

#3 posting 10.28.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

PENN STATE 3, MINNESOTA 2
21-30, 30-12, 26-30, 30-24, 15-13

Minnesota lost a tough five game match to #2 Penn State tonight. The key game was game four when MN had a 21-16 lead, but failed to get one FBSO the next three Penn State servers, and allowed runs of four and six to take the momentum and first place away from the Gophers.

Here are the game reports from the respective schools Minnesota; Penn State. plus the box.

Game one started off fine for MN. Peniata served up seven in a row to make it a commanding 8-1 lead early. PSU did manage to claw back into the game on Hodges three points off her serve 15-12. After a gopher time out Hodge served deep and MN never really was threatened after that.

PSU dominated game two with 11/12 FBSO, while MN never got their game in order with only 2/11 FBSO and both of those were missed serves by PSU. The heart of MN's rotations were struggling with the side out game as Peniata, Bowman, and later on Crumpston each gave up runs of four.

The Gophers led game three 13-7, but then in Peniata's rotation Hodge served up five points, or should I say four points with one rotation error. Bowman put down a kill to end the serve after a time out flying out of the middle. MN led the rest of the way. MN had strings of five straight FBSO early and another string of 7/8 FBSO. MN did put Hartmann on the left side during this game with Roehrig on the right to put up a bigger block on the PSU left side.

Game four was the back breaker. MN led 17-13 after two aces by Crumpston. After a PSU time out MN was in the net. Crumpston's rotation was the only one that had a strong run that game. Earlier she had three points too for a total of six in the game. MN led 21-16 when the wheels started to come off. After a side out on Tan's serve Hodge served up four straight leading off with an ace, but followed by three straight MN hitting errors. By that time it was 21 all. MN took a time out at 21-20 MN, but the ball control was out of control. Another key point came on Harmotto's serve on point 24 for PSU. The rally lasted 7 back & forths, easily the longest on the night, when PSU put down the kill off a blocking error by MN. Two more hitting errors gave PSU a 27-23 lead after Harmotto's serve. PSU slammed the door on MN servers with five straight FBSO. On Crumpston's third serve rotation in the game PSU came up with a kill.

Game five was a back and forth affair. No team had a huge run, but again it was the FBSO that got the job done. PSU had nine straight FBSO 5 of which were kills. MN also had decent FBSO, but 8/10 wasn't quite as top level. Even so MN tied it with a PSU hitting error at 13 on Hartmann's serve. They got the side out on a Hodge kill.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, 1stso/serves--1stso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Minnesota 40/70----.571; 109; 109; .716; .213
Penn State 45/69---.652; 122; .787; .284
FBSO tells the tale. Penn State had strong FBSO games in game two (.917) and five (.818). The Gophers didn't not reach those levels. Even in the two wins the gophers were only .571 in game one and .722 in game three. PSU put together the better strings in the night too.

ROTATION POINTS
MINNESOTA
Tan 15-26 .366
Peniata 26-30 .464
Bowman 16-20 .444
Crumpston 21-18 .538
Nelson 14-13 .519
Hartmann 16-15 .516

PENN STATE
Brown 16-12 .571
Hodge 31-26 .544
Harmotto 25-16 .608
Fawcett/Price 19-17 .527
Holehouse 13-14 .481

The top half of the Gopher rotation were all in the sub .500 range for the first time all year. They all had problems with the tough serves of Penn State. Peniata's rotation gave up big runs in games 2, 3 & 4. Tan had big runs against them in 1 & 4.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Adams Hammers 38 Kills

#2 posting 10.28.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

Sorry the first posting was so late. Again there was problems with Blogger this morning.

SECTIONS
AAA
No real shocks or surprises as the top seeds moved on. The exception was in 8AAA with #3N Bemidji falling to #6N Detroit Lakes.
1
Lakeville North and Rochester Mayo won their contests in four, Owatonna allowed 15 or less in their sweep with Rochester Lourdes.
Northfield is headed to Rochester with two wins against Winona and last night against New Prague. From the Northfield News.
Lakeville North earlier in the week steamrolled Rochester Century in three. From the This Week papers
5
Wayzata ripped Rogers in three. Rogers had a big turnaround from a year ago when they only won one game. Rogers finished 14-14 this year. From the Elk River Star News. Wayzata didn't allow more than 15 in any game.
The other three top seeds moved on. St. Michael-Albertville and Osseo each won in four.
6
Chaska doused the Burnsville Blaze in three and didn't allow more than 11 in any game. From the Chaska Herald.
The other top seeds move on to a Halloween treat for volleyball fans. Shakopee will face Chaska, and Eden Prairie takes on Bloomington Kennedy later that night.
Prior Lake earlier beat Edina in four. From the This Week Papers.
7
Hermantown ended Duluth East's season in four games. From the Duluth News Tribune.
North Branch had to go five to beat Mora.
Hibbing was the toughest to score on, only allowing 16 or less in their sweep of Grand Rapids. Also the DNT has other 7 action from AA and A.
8
#6N Detroit Lakes upset #3N Bemidji in four. From the Bemidji Pioneer.
Moorhead punded Park Rapids in three. From the Fargo Forum and WDAY has video too.
Sauk Rapids' sweep of St. Cloud Tech leads the St. Cloud Times coverage in 8AAA.

AA
No upsets with the teams last night as top seeds moved on the section semis.
3
Springfield moved on to the next round after sweeping MVL with identical 19 scores.
5
If you want to read about SC Cathedral's win go up to 8AAA and click on Sauk Rapids.
6
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa's win over Holdingford leads the West Central Tribune's coverage.
7
Annie Adams of Crosby-Ironton slammed home 38 kills in a five game win over Deer River. This game & more in the Brainerd Dispatch.
8
DGF ended East Grand Fork's season in a sweep. From the Fargo Forum.
Earlier in the week DGF pounded Crookston. This is from the Crookston Times.

A
One minor upset in 8A North was the only flaw in the seeds last night.
3
Minneota rolled Lake Benton-Lincoln HI in three. Also, later in the story, #2 Lakeview's five game scare against #7 Westbrook-Walnut Grove is included plus RTR's four game win over Dawson-Boyd. From the Marshall Independent.
Red Rock Central advanced with a five gamer with Wabasso. Found in the New Ulm Journal, written by a Marshall Independent writer.
5
Hill City had the tightest defense only giving up 14 in a sweep of Northland.
6
?
7
The cross over now happen as all the top seeds move on. Bigfork was the only team to win in three, but they had to survive a 28-26 first game before the brooms came out.
8
In the only minor upset #5 EGF Sacred Heart beat Goodridge-Grygla-Gatzke in four. Scroll down to read about it in the Grand Forks Herald.

JUCO STATE
Ridgewater started the MN Tournament on a strong note with sweeps of Itasca and Rochester. From the West Central Tribune.
Central Lakes also won twice with sweeps of Anoka-Ramsey and Hibbing. From the Brainerd Dispatch.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ACES
3 games
A
Claire Kopfmann, Minneota 9 vs Lake Benton-Lincoln HI

ASSISTS
5 games
AA
Caitlin Stackpool, Virginia 45 vs Greenway 3-2
A
Denise Tietz, Westbrook-Walnut Grove 42 vs Lakeview 2-3

DIGS
5 games
AA
Carla Anderson, Eveleth-Gilbert 20 vs Chisholm 2-3
A
Jamie Gniffke, Lakeview 28 vs Westbrook-Walnut Grove 3-2
4 games
A
Ashley Benson, Dawson-Boyd 33 vs RTR 1-3

KILLS
5 games
AA
Annie Adams, Crosby-Ironton 38 vs Deer River 3-2
Katie Kimman, Pierz 21 vs Maple Lake 3-2
Erin Jacobsen, Virginia 19 vs Greenway 3-2
Carly Reuter, Deer River 16 vs Crosby-Ironton 2-3
A
Audra Schmidt, Westbrook-Walnut Grove 19 vs Lakeview 2-3
Whitney Frank, Westbrook-Walnut Grove 15 vs Lakeview 2-3
4 games
AAA
Laura Greenwood, Duluth East 23 vs Hermantown 1-3
Katelyn Early, Hermantown 16 vs Duluth East 3-1
Blair Murphy, Hermantown 15 vs Duluth East 3-1
Kasey Uran, Sartell 15 vs Melrose 3-1
AA
Sam Larsen, Albany 18 vs New London-Spicer 3-1
Megan Groen, Renville County West 18 vs BOLD 3-1
Jordan Olerud, Redwood Valley 15 vs YME 3-1
A
Kayli Schumacher, EGF Sacred Heart 33 vs GGG 3-1
Hannah Eilers, Littlefork-Big Falls 24 vs Cherry 3-1
Libby Guzzo, Silver Bay 24 vs Wrenshall 3-1
Erianne Bright, Cherry 19 vs LFBF 1-3
Rebecca Polansky, GGG 16 vs EGF Sacred Heart 1-3
Kendra Bornhoft, RTR 15 vs Dawson-Boyd 3-1
3 games
AAA
Kim Smisek, Northfield 19 vs New Prague 3-0
Danielle Lucia, St. Cloud Apollo 17 vs Little Falls 3-0
AA
Krystal Schwanke, Springfield 22 vs MVL 3-0
Anna Zyvoloski, St. Cloud Cathedral 21 vs HLWW 3-0
Jennifer Lopez, DGF 19 vs East Grand Forks 3-0
A
Jordan Beach, Bigfork 15 vs AlBrook 3-0

Next up: after the big Minnesota/Penn State battle for first in the Big 10.

Cahill Reaches 1000 Kills

#1 posting 10.28.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

D1 ACTION
Here is the StarTribune's report on last night's Gopher tap dance on Ohio State. I reported on this in the last posting.
Tonight will be the humdinger battle between Penn State, who stubbed their toe 3-0 yesterday in Madison, and the Gophs. First place is at stake and the meteoric rise in the polls could continue with another well played game.

D2 ACTION
NORTH CENTRAL
MSU Mankato swept North Dakota 26, 16, 31-29. MSU Mankato is currently #7 in the regional poll. Aileen Cahill of North Dakota reached the 1000 kill mark in the contest with the first swing. She is the sixth player from UND to get to that number.

NORTHERN SUN
Concordia St. Paul beat Northern State in four for their 58th straight NSIC win. It was a record crowd at Aberdeen.

MSU Moorhead had the brooms ready for Bemidji State

Wayne State also went four with Winona State. Also the Winona State Daily News has a story.

Upper Iowa also had a four game win with Mary. Neither team has a site that has game reports.

CROSSOVERS
South Dakota took care of UM Crookston in three.

D3 ACTION
RIVER FALLS TOURNEY
Eau Claire and River Falls each won twice in the UWRF Trick or Treat tourney. Bethel split their games.

JUCO STATE
Hibbing persevered with an injury to their only real middle hitter and made the tournament at Ridgewater. Here is the Hibbing Daily Tribune with their path to state.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
4 games
D2
Brittany Coleman, Wayne State 61 vs Winona State 3-1
Maggie McNamara, Concordia St. Paul 57 vs Northern State 3-1
3 games
D2
Stef Sandstrom, MSU Mankato 49 vs North Dakota 3-0
D3
Carly Freiborg, Eau Claire 46 vs Superior 3-0


DIGS
4 games
D2
Megan Graham, Concordia St. Paul 28 vs Northern State 3-1
Stephanie Smith, Upper Iowa 27 vs Mary 3-1
Melanie Perez, Northern State 25 vs Concordia St. Paul 1-3
Laura Dolezal, Wayne State 25 vs Winona State 3-1
Ashley Maas, Mary 24 vs Upper Iowa 1-3
Rudi Balich, Winona State 23 vs Wayne State 1-3
Shea Meyermann, Upper Iowa 20 vs Mary 3-1
3 games
D2
Lisa Rohret, MSU Mankato 25 vs North Dakota 3-0
Lindsay Vortherms, North Dakota 24 vs MSU Mankato 0-3

KILLS
4 games
D2
Michelle Eckhardt, Wayne State 25 vs Winona State 3-1
Jessica Lucia, Concordia St. Paul 23 vs Northern State 3-1
Emily Schroeder, Wayne State 20 vs Winona State 3-1
Tatiani Santos, Mary 19 vs Upper Iowa 1-3
Shea Meyermann, Upper Iowa 15 vs Mary 3-1
Tanya Hensch, Mary 15 vs Upper Iowa 1-3
Kelsey Aden, Northern State 15 vs Concordia St. Paul 1-3
Carmen Stankowski, Winona State 15 vs Wayne State 1-3
3 games
D2
Meagan Brandon, MSU Moorhead 17 vs Bemidji State 3-0
Cassie Wolpern, MSU Mankato 15 vs North Dakota 3-0
Heidi Evans, North Dakota 15 vs MSU Mankato 0-3
D3
Jessica Groh, Eau Claire 18 vs Superior 3-0

Next up: later this afternoon with the HS results from last night

Out & About: Minnesota/Ohio State

#2 posting 10.27.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MINNESOTA 3, OHIO STATE 0
30-22, 30-28, 30-19

The Gophers forced Ohio State back on their heels most of the night. OSU spent most of the night out of system and the Gophers slammed the door shut with lights out first ball side out. It appears the Gophers are on a mission.

Here are the game reports from the respective schools: Minnesota, Ohio State, and the box

Minnesota started off the night with 11 straight FBSO. Ohio State could not generate any offense at all. It was 19-11 MN at this point. The streak ended on Hartmann's rotation as OSU picked up four points to make it 19-16. But after a Jones kill for a sideout, Tan came in and serve up four points of her own.

Ohio State had their own FBSO run in game two with five straight. Their biggest lead was 8-5. MN took the lead on Peniata's serve 11-10. It then became a one/zero game as both teams sided out. OSU did get the advantage 19-18 after Bowman missed her serve, but Crumpston came right back with a FBSO kill. Nelson put some distance between the teams with two points on her serve, both coming on OSU errors. After a Buckeye time out they put together a 4-1 run and closed to 29-28. But Crumpston put it down for the 30th point on the second time over the net to end game two.

MN started off the third game with six straight FBSO. The Gophers led 15-7 at this stage. The biggest Gopher margin was 21-9 on Bowman's ace. Ohio State did close to 24-15 with three straight in Hartmann's rotation. MN got their FBSO mojo back to close with four straight. The game did end on a missed serve by Meyer.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, 1stso/serves--1stso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Minnesota 42/53---.792; 90; .811; .406
Ohio State 32/53---.604; 69; .594; .189
The fact is MN earned their points; Ohio State didn't gift wrap too many. The .306 hitting % obviously was a plus. They also had 22 more kills and 11 more digs.

The key fact was the first ball side out %. MN was 14/16 in both games one and three, and you can see the score was pretty favorable for them. Ohio State actually had better FBSO in game two (.750 to .667), but the Gophers never got hurt by damaging runs. Their biggest run in game two was toward the end with three points. Ohio State however gave up runs of four once, and three twice.

ROTATION POINTS
MINNESOTA
Tan: 18-12 .600
Peniata 22-11 .667
Bowman 13-12 .520
Crumpston 11-11 .500
Nelson 14-8 .636
Hartmann 12-12 .500

OHIO STATE
Main 18-20 .474
Szerszen 12-17 .414
Tengnas 11-14 .440
McCarthy 10-12 .455
Meyer 9-13 .409
Stevens 9-14 .391

Three MN rotations were .600 or above, and all were .500 or above. Hartmann's rotation improved, and that is crucial for continued success. One reason game two was so close was six missed serves by MN. So Ohio State didn't have to work to get their side outs. Again MN missed six in game three.

Now they will face Penn State tomorrow and PSU will be steamed due to the 3-0 loss at Madison tonight. Here is the Penn State side and Wisconsin side of things. It should be a donnybrook.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Rushford-Peterson Pulls Stunner, MN Twins?

#1 posting 10.27.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BOWMAN/PENIATA
Imagine my surprise when I opened the StarTribune this morning and saw two volleyball players on the front page--even above the fold. Kelly Bowman and Malama (better known as Marci in HS) Peniata have been linked forever. I thought good--VB is getting some respect.

I personally know the early stages of this linkage as Osseo (the team I coached back then) faced Armstrong for the championship in 5AAA for two of the three years they played. The 2001 final was one for the ages because both had over 50 kills. I believe Peniata had two more than Bowman.

One more tidbit since we are in playoff season: In 1997 Kelly Bowman was a 7th grader starting for Osseo. (Peniata and Armstrong were in different sections then). We were the 10th seed in 5AAA, and upset #7 Fridley in three, #2 Mpls South at South in the quaters in five after trailing 2-0, (Kelly Bowman made some spectacular plays to save our hides in that contest) #6 Mpls Southwest in the semis in five after trailing 2-0 and 13-9 in the third game. We did lose to Columbia Heights in the finals, but I don't think a 10 seed has made the finals since then in any MN section.

The MN Daily has a preview of the upcoming two games against Ohio State & Penn State.

SECTION PLAYOFFS
AAA
2
#1 seed Marshall dusted their brooms with Fairmont 8, 10, & 11. From the Marshall Independent.
#7 Mankato East survived an upset bid by #10 Dassel-Cokato in five. From the Mankato Free Press.
# Litchfield beat Worthington with the fourth game going extra time to Litch 28-26. Worthington took the first game. From the West Central Tribune and Worthington Daily Globe.
#8 New Ulm ended #9 Monticello's season in a sweep 23, 9, 21. From the New Ulm Journal. #4 Waconia swept #13 Willmar 17, 13, 18. From the West Central Tribune.
4 For those of you wondering who won the switcheroo game Champlin Park did win in three over Stillwater. Check yesterday's last story for that rip off. The teams that were supposed to win did. The longest contest was Spring Lake Park's five gamer with Mounds View. They trailed 2-1.
7
Hibbing swept Proctor on Wednesday and here is the story on the sweep in the Hibbing Daily Tribune.
8
St. Cloud Tech won the play in game over Brainerd in three. From the St. Cloud Times.

AA
1
#7 East Rushford-Peterson shocked and stunned #2 East Winona Cotter. RP trailed 14-5 in the 5th and final game and somehow managed to find away to tie the game at 14. Junior Alyssa Miller served up those points for RP. RP took game five 19-17. Much more in the Winona Daily News.
#3 East Caledonia swept past St. Charles 16, 10, 14 in a statement game. From the Winona Daily News. Caledonia will play Rushford-Peterson in the semis Saturday.
#1 East Wabasha-Kellogg didn't have problems Plainview-Elgin-Millville in a 18, 18, 17 sweep. From the WDT.
In the west half Byron and Stewartville both had sweeps to move on. Kingsland had to go five in order to move on with a marathon win over Pine Island. Kingsland trailed 2-0 before their comeback.
2
Upsets abounded in the East side of this section with three upsets. #5 Cannon Falls pulled a mild upset with a four game win over #4 Hayfield. But the bigger upset was #6 NRHEG taking out #3 Kasson-Mantorville in five. NRHEG won the last three games after trailing 2-0. They won game three 26-24, game four 28-26 and game five 15-13. In the final upset it was a sweep for Kenyon-Wanamingo over Medford with tight games in one and three.
In the West only #5 Maple River's win over #4 Sibley East threw off the seeds.
4
All the top seeds moved on in this section. Jordan didn't let Blake get into double digits in their sweep. Mayer Lutheran also slammed the door on Breck with no double digits.
5
three 3-0 sweeps ruled in the north half.
6
Montevideo swept Ortonville 11, 17, 8 in the start of 6AA action. this & More in the West Central Tribune. The north half starts tonight.
8
There are four number one seeds, but only three move on. Breckendridge upset Barnesville in five to spoil the seeds. Breckenridge trailed 2-1 but won game four 27-25, and game five 16-14.
DGF swept Crookston. From the Fargo Forum. There is also video from WDAY on the Forum site. It is still somewhat choppy, but DGF, and Rothsay have highlights.
East Grand Forks beat Hawley in three. From the Grand Forks Herald.

A
1
There were on upsets in this field. Bethlehem Acadmey only gave up 11 points in their dominating win over MN Deaf. LeRoy-Ostrander had to go five to get past Spring Grove. LRO trailed 2-1 before getting the comeback win.
2
Nicollet swept Mankato Loyola 19, 15, 20. They will face GHECML in the semis. GHECML dropped New Ulm Cathedral in three. Both stories from the New Ulm Journal.
KMS swept Cleveland in the north half 10, 12, 9. This and more in the West Central Tribune.
Cedar Mountain-Comfrey upset Buffalo Lake-Hector in four in the only match that didn't go according to seed.
4
No upsets here. Fourth Baptist had to go five with Bethany to advance.
5
In the south #5 Brandon-Evansville swept #4 Isle in an upset game and in the north #5 Northland did the same to #4 Verndale but it took one more game.
6
Lake Park-Audubon had to go five to beat Park Christian.
Underwood took care of CGB 18, 17, 13 to start their tournament experience. From the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.
8
In a mild upset #9 Fertile-Beltrami swept #8 Red Lake Falls to move on.

SECTION PREVIEWS
The Worthington Daily Globe has a rundown of the matchups in 3AA and 3A.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
AAA
Kerri Jones, Mankato East 45 vs Dassel-Cokato 3-2

BLOCKS
3 games
AAA
Courtney Steinhauser, New Ulm 11 (9 solo) vs Monticello 3-0

DIGS
4 games
AAA
Holli Aggen, Worthington 23 vs Litchfield 1-3
AA
Laura Tvrdik, Minnewaska 24 vs Benson 1-3

KILLS
5 games
AAA
Mallory Zimmermann, Mankato East 25 vs Dassel-Cokato 3-2
4 games
AAA
Brittany Euerle, Litchfield 19 vs Worthington 3-1
Megan Lambertson, Litchfield 17 vs Worthington 3-1
Holli Aggen, Worthington 17 vs Litchfield 1-3
A
Sam Lindstedt, Rothsay 15 vs Waubun 3-1
3 games
AA
Krystal Lacey, West Central 17 vs Parkers Prairie 3-0
Katrina Brekke, East Grand Forks 17 vs Hawley 3-0
A
Kayla Tschida, Upsala 16 vs Henning 3-0

Next up: later tonight after the Gopher/Ohio State game

Missing in Action

#2 posting 10.26.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

Out & About: Swicheroo???
Tonight I went to Champlin Park to watch #12 Stillwater against #5 CP in the 4AAA round of 16, however when I arrived at the gym there was nothing going on except some football game outside. The band was getting ready for a concert at 8 pm. There was absolutely nothing going on in the gym. The programs were there, but no players, coaches, refs, nets, fans, stands, concessions.

The MSHSL website said the game was supposed to start at 7 pm. A father and daughter came up to the doors looking for the game too as I was leaving. I hope they didn't have to drive 45 minutes for nothing.

For a section tournament I would expect better promotion, but there was no correction on the web or in the papers. Section tournaments mean the end of the line for one team. To play this game as an afterthought, away from primetime with fans unable to alter their schedule is pretty sad.

This brings me to the question---why isn't volleyball getting any respect?

There was no word on who won.

Tomorrow there will be many interesting quarterfinals, but none better than in 6AAA with #6 Apple Valley at #3 Eden Prairie and #5 Eastview at #4 Shakopee.
I will be watching the Gophers/Ohio State game however wishing I could be in three places at once.

Up next: tomorrow morning with the results of tonight's matches.

MIAC Playoffs Set, Knutsen Verbals

#1 posting 9.26.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

KNUTSEN VERBALS
Rachel Knutsen, St. Michael-Albertville 5-8 Libero has made a verbal to Concordia St. Paul. STMA is #2 in 5AAA.

MIAC ACTION
Augsburg surprised Hamline in four. Augsburg had 18 more digs on the night. Hamline will be the 5th seed in the MIAC tournament.

Bethel prevented Macalester a chance at the MIAC postseason in a four game win. Mac had 11 more kills and hit .346, but only scraped up 25 digs which doomed their chances.

Concordia Moorhead added one more win to the left hand column with a four game win over St. Benedict. Even with the loss St. Ben's makes the MIAC playoff field as #6.

In the battle of Northfield, Carleton beat St. Olaf in four. Carleton will be #3 in the tournament to come.

#9 St. Thomas rolled St. Catherine's in three. St. Thomas is #4 in the coming tournament.

Gustavus took care of St. Mary's in four after St. Mary's won the first game. Story from the Winona Daily News.

MIAC playoffs start Halloween with St. Benedict at Carleton and Hamline at St. Thomas. Winners play Thursday at Gustavus and Concordia Moorhead.

WIAC ACTION
Two games went the distance in the WIAC

Oshkosh outlasted Whitewater with the 5th game going extra points 18-16. Four of the five games were decided by two. With the win Oshkosh gets a share of the title. If stats are to believed Whitewater, the defending national champs, managaed only 38 digs on the night.?

Stevens Point won the first two, including a 39-37 marathon in game two, before waiting to clinch the win in game five 15-11 over LaCrosse. It was Stevens Point's first win over LaCrosse in 15 games.

UMAC
Martin Luther had brooms for Bethany Lutheran. Story from the Mankato Free Press.

TRIANGULAR
St. Scholastica won twice over Northland and Findlandia. Northland also picked up a win.

JUCO STATE
Itasca is heading to Willmar and Ridgewater CC that starts Friday. Itasca faces host Ridgewater at 2:30. From the Grand Rapids Herald Review.

SECTION PREVIEW
The Hibbing Daily Tribune goes over 7AAA chances, with the focus on Hibbing, in yesterday's paper.

SECTION RESULTS
AAA
1: Northfield dropped Winona in three. The headline says New Prague, but don't be fooled. It was Northfield. From the Winona Daily News.
#8 Rochester Lourdes upset #9 Lakeville South in five in the only game that didn't go according to seed. Next up is Friday Quarterfinals.
3: No shocks here as top seeds moved on to Friday's quarters.
4: #17 White Bear Lake survived a five gamer with #16 Elk River winning game five 15-13 in a minor upset. From the Elk River Star News.
5: #8 Rogers had brooms for Minneapolis City co champs #9 South. The second game was a nailbiter at 26-24. From the Elk River Star News. Also Maple Grove struggled in game one against St. Anthony, but put their foot down in games two and three.
The other two games were reported on last night with Hopkins and Benilde moving on.
6: #9 Burnsville beat #8 Holy Angels in a mild upset in four. Burnsville's prize: facing #1 Chaska Friday night in the quarters. All the other top seeds won.
7: #5S St. Francis, in a mild upset, beat #4S Chisago Lakes in three. In the north half Hermantown's sweep of Duluth Central leads the Duluth News Tribune's roundup. The DNT also has their own volleyball rankings. Hibbing is on top in the large school category, Carlton in the smaller schools. If you like boxes the DNT has 7 AAA, AA, A and a 5AA box.
AA
7: top seeds moved forward.
A
7: top seeds advance. It wasn't listed on the MSHSL site or in the StarTribune, but Bigfork beat Floodwood in three.

LATE RESULTS
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley lost a five gamer to Pine River-Backus last week. From the Walker Pilot-Independent.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
D3
Samantha Dries, LaCrosse 50 vs Stevens Point 2-3
Leah Stumpf, Oshkosh 47 vs Whitewater 3-2
4 games
D3
Kari Tanaka, Macalester 53 vs Bethel 3-1
Breanna Benham, St. Mary's 52 vs Gustavus 1-3
Heather La Chapelle, Carleton 49 vs St. Olaf 3-1
Jenny Nichols, Hamline 46 vs Augsburg 1-3
NAIA
Brie McRae, Northland 52 vs St. Scholastica 1-3
Kati Berscheit, St. Scholastica 49 vs Northland 3-1

DIGS
5 games
D3
Lori Marten, Stevens Point 38 vs LaCrosse 3-2
Samantha Schmidt, Oshkosh 31 vs Whitewater 3-2
Amber Schoonover, LaCrosse 31 vs Stevens Point 2-3
Katie Beining, Oshkosh 20 vs Whitewater 3-2
4 games
D3
Laura Zwach, St. Benedict 31 vs Concordia Moorhead 1-3
Laura Barsness, Carleton 28 vs St. Olaf 3-1
Joslin Geisler. Bethel 24 vs Macalester 3-1
Angie Bonde, Concordia Moorhead 23 vs St. Benedict 3-1
Haley Bower, Augsburg 21 vs Hamline 3-1
Dani Boner, Augsburg 21 vs Hamline 3-1
Molli Dant, St. Mary's 21 vs Gustavus 1-3
Ashley Karl, St. Mary's 21 vs Gustavus 1-3
NAIA
Diana Moody, St. Scholastica 21 vs Northland 3-1
3 games
D3
Katie Kremer, St. Thomas 20 vs St. Catherine 3-0
Maria Hoffman, St. Catherine 20 vs St. Thomas 0-3

KILLS
5 games
Shelly Maus, Stevens Point 25 vs LaCrosse 3-2
Carley Polk, Whitewater 22 vs Oshkosh 2-3
Callie Kunde, Stevens Point 20 vs LaCrosse 3-2
Rebekah Nelson, Whitewater 18 vs Oshkosh 2-3
Brianne Stankus, LaCrosse 18 vs Stevens Point 2-3
Nina Walch, LaCrosse 17 vs Stevens Point 2-3
Beth Richter, Stevens Point 16 vs LaCrosse 3-2
Kim Vail, Oshkosh 15 vs Whitewater 3-2
Rebecca Masephol, Oshkosh 15 vs Whitewater 3-2
4 games
D3
Liz Glesne, Bethel 25 vs Macalester 3-1
Sonia Muzikarova, Macalester 23 vs Bethel 1-3
Danielle Hargreaves, Carleton 22 vs St. Olaf 3-1
Andrea Otteman, St. Olaf 20 vs Carleton 1-3
Molli Dant, St. Mary's 19 vs Gustavus 1-3
Christine Brook, , St. Olaf 18 vs Carleton 1-3
Jessica Voight, St. Mary's 18 vs Gustavus 1-3
Danielle Dahl, Concordia Moorhead 17 vs St. Benedict 3-1
Lauren Eberhart, Macalester 16 vs Bethel 1-3
Lindsay Sipma, Concordia Moorhead 16 vs St. Benedict 3-1
Dani Boner, Augsburg 15 vs Hamline 3-1
NAIA
Leann Berscheit, St. Scholastica 17 vs Northland 3-1
Melissa Anderson, Northland 15 vs St. Scholastica 1-3
3 games
NAIA
Rachel Meyer, Martin Luther 25 vs Bethany Lutheran 3-0

Next up: later today with another out&about

Out & About: Hopkins/St. Louis Park

#3 posting 10.25.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

5AAA Second Round
#6 HOPKINS 3, #11 ST. LOUIS PARK 0
25-18, 25-22, 25-16

Hopkins earned more points and had more first ball side outs in their win over St. Louis Park, but it wasn't all clear sailing.

In game one Hopkins trailed StLP 17-15 late, but they closed with a 10-1 run. Hopkins' Rita Cherner took the ball with the score tied at 18. She never gave it back. Cherner spread out three aces in the 7 point finish.

StLP led 4-0 early in game two. Hopkins got back into the game as neither team established a reliable first ball side out pattern early. Of the first 9 servers there was only one FBSO. The game again broke open on Cherner's serve. It was 19-18 Hopkins when she started her service, and 23-19 when she was through. Park didn't stop but put together a 4-1 run to close to 24-22. Sonja Arneson had an overpass tip kill to finish the frame.

The third game was the only game in which Hopkins dominated start to finish. Emily Foster started the game off right for Hopkins with five points including the first three aces. The momentum continued to roll to 19-7 for their biggest lead. Hopkins also got their FBSO game back with five straight to open game three. StLP came as close as 22-15, but the deficit was too large, and the energy was low for Park. Arneson again ended the game with a tip kill.

Hopkins is being coached by Molly Martin as head coach Vicki Swenson deals with the tragic aftermath of the murder of a family member in Stillwater.

Rotation, player, position, height, year, aces-blocks-kills---points
HOPKINS
1 Emily Foster, S, 5-10, 2007 3-.5-2—5.5
2 Courtney Rose, OH, 5-8, 2008 2-0-10----12
2g3 #12, OH 0-0-1----1
3br Becca Tomasko, L, 5-4, 2007 1-0-0----1
3fr Sonja Arneson, MH, 6-0, 2007 0-1.5-5—6.5
4 Emily Anderson, RH, 5-8, 2007 1-.5-2—3.5
5 Rita Cherner, OH, 5-8, 2007 4-0-7---11
6br Mari Peterson, DS, 5-9, 2008 0-0-0----0
6fr Cali Carnahan, MH, 6-0, 2008 0-.5-9---9.5
Totals: 11-3-36----50 points, 25 points on St. Louis Park errors

ST. LOUIS PARK
1. Kayla Torgerson , 2007 1-0-0----1
2br. Jayme Agrey, S, 2007 1-0-0----1
2fr Betta Ganino, OH, 2007 0-0-2---2
3. Majra Mucic, MH, 2007 0-2-8--10
4br Andria Kelzenberg, DS, 2007 0-0-0----0
5. LaiShema Hampton, OH 2008 2-0-3---5
5g3 Katie Rasmussen, S, 2008 0-0-0----0
6. Taylor Tinkham, MH 2008 3-1-7---11
Totals: 7-3-21---31 points, 25 points on Hopkins errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Emily Foster

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, 1stso/serves--1stso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Hopkins 20/35----.571; 75; .667; .446
St. Louis Park 17-35----.486; 51; .554; .333

Hopkins had control of FBSO in games 1 and 3, but StLP actually had the better FBSO in game 2. Hopkins was helped by 15 more kills. Both teams earned more than half their points, but Hopkins had just a tad more control to move on. The first game meltdown damaged any hope of a Park win. They were on the cusp, but didn't finish.

ROTATION POINTS
rotation, name, points for-against pct
Hopkins
1 Foster 15-10 .600
2 Rose 10-7 .588
3 Tomasko 13-8 .619
4 Anderson 10-9 .526
5 Cherner 16-11 .593
6 Peterson 10-12 .455

ST. LOUIS PARK
1. Torgerson 12-15 .444
2. Jayme Agrey 10-11 .476
3. Majra Mucic 7-13 .350
4. Andria Kelzenberg 8-10 .444
5. LaiShema Hampton 8-17 .320
6. Taylor Tinkham 11-10 .524
In the battle of the rotations, Hopkins had all winners except #6. Two rotations were north of .600. StLP was able to get one rotation on the plus side.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Out & About: Benilde-St. Margaret/Cooper

#2 posting 10.25.2006
Your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

5AAA Second Round
#7 BENILDE-ST. MARGARET’S 3, #10 COOPER 0
25-17, 25-21, 25-14

In the first game at Hopkins, Benilde-St. Margaret's beat Cooper in a sweep. Better side out % and more earned points delivered the victory for BSM.

BSM led early 6-2 after Devon McFadden's serve. Cooper did have their side out game going early with four first ball side outs in five services, but it escaped soon after. Lauren Carisch came up with three service points, and Natalie Guggenberger added four to make it 22-10 for BSM's biggest lead, after a side out Blair Beneke delivered four points to cut the lead to 22-14, but the margin was too much to overcome as side outs ruled the last five points.

BSM held early leads at 6-0 and 9-2, and the BSM side out game was strong early with 8 of 10 first ball side outs. Cooper did close to 22-19, but the game ended with five straight side outs and BSM won 25-21. Kachine Alexander came up with six points in the second game.

Game three was fairly tight with a 10-8 lead by BSM, but then 8 straight points blew the game open 18-8. Five straight Cooper hitting errors started the momentum shift. Megan Kelly was at the service line during the run. Neither team sided out well in the third game with Cooper checking in with .333 and BSM only .500.

Rotation, player, position, height, year, aces-blocks-kills---points
BENILDE-ST. MARGARET’S
1fr Lauren Carisch, RH, 5-10, 2008 0-.5-3---3.5
1br Brittany Mayclin, S, 5-8, 2007 0-0-1---1
2 Erin Sherman, OH, 5-6, 2009 0-0-11----11
3 Devon McFadden, MH, 5-11, 2007 0-.5-4---4.5
4 Natalie Guggenberger, S, 5-6, 2009 3-0-2---5
5 Kachine Alexander, OH, 5-10, 2007, 0-1-12---13 also played middle
6br Megan Kelly, L, 5-9, 2007 0-0-1----1
6fr Danielle Bennett-Curry, MH, 5-8, 2009 0-0-5---5 mainly hit left
Totals: 3-2-39---44 points, 31 points on Cooper errors

COOPER
1 Krista Gary, S, 5-5, 2007 1-0-4----5
2 Allie Oelfke, OH, 5-7, 0-0-1----1
3br Christine Hanks, MH 5-7, 2009 0-0-0----0
3br Vicky Yang, BR 0-0-0----0
3fr Alycia Turner, MH, 6-0, 2007 0-0-4---4
4 Kelsey Thingvold, RH 5-9, 2007, 0-.5-3---3.5
5 Blair Benecke, OH, 5-7, 2008 0-0-3---3
6br Rachel Cruikshank, L, 5-6, 2007 0-0-0----0
6fr Stephanie Hyser, MH, 5-9, 2007 0-.5-3---3.5
Totals: 1-1-18----20 points, 31 on Benilde-St. Margaret errors

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Kachine Alexander

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, 1stso/serves--1stso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Benilde-SM 24/36---.667; 75; .587; .608
Cooper 19/36---.528; 51; .392; .413
Strong first ball side out early had BSM establishing their game. Another big difference came in the points earned category with BSM holding a big advantage. BSM did have 21 more kills on the night. BSM did give a chunck of points away however.

ROTATION POINTS
rotation, name, points for-against pct
BENILDE-SM
1 Carisch 18-10 .643
2 Sherman 11-9 .550
3 McFadden 14-7 .667
4 Guggenberger 12-11 .522
5 Alexander 6-7 .462
6 Kelly 14-8 .636

COOPER
1 Gary 10-17 .370
2 Oelfke 10-11 .476
3 Yang 8-15 .348
4 Thingvold 6-13 .316
5 Benecke 11-6 .647
6 Cruikshank 7-13 .350

Three rotations delivered over .600 in the BSM lineup. Cooper had one come up big. Only one BSM rotation was on the negative side. Five Cooper rotations were sub .500.

Next up: the Hopkins/St. Louis Park game, then I will revisit and put up the story

Wayne State Upsets SW MN State

#1 posting 10.25.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS FIRST HALF REVIEWED
The Minnesota Daily has a review of the Gophers first half of the conference year. It also has a preview of the upcoming weekend games against Ohio State and Penn State.

D2 ACTION
NORTHERN SUN
#24 Wayne State stopped #20 SW MN State in four games. With the win Wayne State is in sole possession of second place. Wayne State had more swings on the night and that may have had an impact with both teams hitting about the same .174/.175.

NON CON
NCC 3, NSIC 1
I wrote about the #6 Concordia St. Paul win over #4 UM Duluth last night. In that game CSP's Jessica Lucia went over 1500 kills milestone for her career. This was the only Northern Sun win on the night.
The three wins for the North Central:
MSU Mankato got back on the wining track with a four game win over Winona State.

#19 Nebraska Omaha crunched Upper Iowa 17, 15. 13.

North Dakota also had brooms for MSU Moorhead, but it was tight in one & three 31-29.

D3 ACTION
#9 St. Thomas went the distance with River Falls. Odd fact: River Falls had 20 more kills on the night and had 84 more swings on the night. However they also had 21 more hitting errors.

Stout snapped a six game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Northwestern MN.

SECTION PLAYOFF RESULTS
AA
Crookston won their pig tail game with Mahnomen in three on Monday. Their prize? Taking on #1AA DGF. From the Crookston Times.
A
Nashwauk-Keewatin also had brooms out for Cook County. From the Hibbing Daily Tribune.

Wayzata beat Cretin-Derham Hall in five last night. I had to make a choice between this game and the Concordia St. Paul and UM Duluth game. The largest margin of victory was 25-22, so it was a great match between two #1 seeds.

SECTION PREVIEWS
Kingsland's chances in 1AA are previewed in the Spring Valley Tribune. They will face Pine Island. Kingsland is #5 and Pine Island #4. 1AA West looks pretty brutal with Stewartville, Byron and Chatfield all above. Kingsland recently finished second in the Rochester Century tournament.

WEEKLY PAPER WRAPS
Chatfield beat Goodhue 3-2 in the Three River championship game and finished 11-0 for the conference season. From the Chatfield News.

Adrian had seven matches in nine days. Find out how they did in the Nobles County Review.

Paynesville picked up their first win of the year over Foley in the Sartell Tournament. In the Paynesville Press.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
KTTC in Rochester has named Leah Bjerke Athlete of the week. You can either read the copy, or watch the video clip. Click on the camera icon above Bjerke's photo.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
D3
Kat Krtnick, River Falls 63 vs St. Thomas 2-3
4 games
D2
Brittany Coleman, Wayne State 59 vs SW MN State 3-1
Stef Sandstrom, MSU Mankato 57 vs Winona State 3-1
Monica Ashburn, SW MN State 54 vs Wayne State 1-3
Maggie McNamara, Concordia St. Paul 52 vs UM Duluth 3-1
Katie Gangelhoff, UM Duluth 47 vs Concordia St. Paul 1-3

DIGS
5 games
D3
Katie Kremer, St. Thomas 32 vs River Falls 3-2
Rachelle Dosch, St. Thomas 28 vs River Falls 3-2
Kat Krtnick, River Falls 28 vs St. Thomas 2-3
Kelsey Scheele, River Falls 26 vs St. Thomas 2-3
Lindsey Mace, River Falls 21 vs St. Thomas 2-3
4 games
D2
Laura Dolezal, Wayne State 25 vs SW MN State 3-1
Erin Contons, SW MN State 23 vs Wayne State 1-3
Brittany Coleman, Wayne State 21 vs SW MN State 3-1
Chelsea Meierotto, UM Duluth 20 Concordia St. Paul 1-3
Megan Graham, Concordia St. Paul 20 vs UM Duluth 3-1
3 games
D2
Shea Meyermann, Upper Iowa 20 vs UN Omaha 0-3

KILLS
5 games
D3
Rachelle Dosch, St. Thomas 20 vs River Falls 3-2
Andrea Geehan, River Falls 20 vs St. Thomas 2-3
Kate Thompson, River Falls 19 vs St. Thomas 2-3
Gina DeRosa, River Falls 18 vs St. Thomas 2-3
4 games
D2
Emily Schroeder, Wayne State 29 vs SW MN State 3-1
Erin Contons, SW MN State 24 vs Wayne State 1-3
Jessica Lucia, Concordia St. Paul 19 vs UM Duluth 3-1
Whitney Meierotto, UM Duluth 17 vs Concordia St. Paul 1-3
Cathy Turner, MSU Mankato 16 vs Winona State 3-1
Kari Wolford, UM Duluth 16 vs Concordia St. Paul 1-3
3 games
D2
Tara Holmen, North Dakota 19 vs MSU Moorhead 3-0
Christina Reicks, UN Omaha 18 vs Upper Iowa 3-0

Next up: later today with another out & about. It will be after 10 pm or close to it.

Out & About: Concordia St. Paul/UM Duluth

#2 posting 10.24.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

Concordia St. Paul 3, UM Duluth 1
30-21, 25-30, 30-26, 30-26

Here are the press releases from CSP and UMD, they can tell their side. Of course it wouldn't be complete without the box.

With a clash of two top 10 teams (CSP #6, UMD #4) in D2 it was an easy decision to go to this confrontation tonight. Traffic was backed up going east on 94 so I just barely made it. But the energy, excitement in the gym got everyone's attention.
I also wanted to see the players of the week: Jessica Lucia and Maggie McNamara for CSP and Katie Gangelhoff and Vicky Braegelmann for UMD. Lucia had a better go of it in the match up with Braegelmann with 19 kills and a .277 %. Braegelmann checked in with only 8 kills and a negative .030 %.
I will later in future blogs look at the difference with D1 and D2, but the speed of action and athleticism of players should not be doubted.

Here is what isn't seen in the boxes.
NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, 1stso/serves--1stso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Concordia St. Paul 30/58---.517; 115, .739; .350
UM Duluth 33/59---.559; 103; .650; .261
Odd fact: UMD had better first ball side out. However in every game they lost it was the long runs that doomed UMD. In game one they gave up six right off the bat to Monica McNamara, and later gave up five to sister Maggie. On those two serves CSP had 33% for their points.
Maggie had five points in a row in game three, and again sister Monica provided four in the very next serve. Again close to a third of the points for CSP.
In game four it was Kate Bennett that had the big run with six straight points. Maggie McNamara was also efficient with a run of four.
CSP also gave up runs but they only gave up one run of four or more and that was in game four on Rachel Jacobson's serve.

In comparing what the Gophers do: their average first ball side out % is .648; their points earned % is .805 and points allowed is .294, but that includes the game where they gave away .400 to Indiana.

ROTATION POINTS
CSP
1. Maggie McNamara, S 29-18 .617
2. Monica McNamara, OH 24-18 .571
3. Megan Graham, L 18-20 .474 for Maria Stinhagen MH
4. Jessica Lucia, RH 14-14 .500
5. Ashley Olson, OH 15-14 .517
6. Kate Bennett, serves 15-18 .455 for Kelsey Kyro MH

UMD
1. Katie Gangelhoff, S 18-23 .439
2. Kari Wolford, OH 20-28 .417
3. Chelsea Meierotto, L 21-17 .553 in for Lindsey Clairmont MH
4. Crystal Hoffrogge, DS 12-16 .429 in for Vicky Braegelmann RH
5. Whitney Meierotto, OH 16-17 .485
6. Rachel Jacobson, DS 16-13 .552 in for Rachel Langseth MH

The odd thing was that the MH spot in each teams rotation was a mirror opposite--CSP's MH spot was sub .500 while for UMD the MH spot was the only spot above .500. But Maggie McNamara's rotation was the only rotation north of .600.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Respect, UMD vs Concordia St. Paul, Final HS Polls

#1 posting 10.24.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

OVERDUE RESPECT
Minnesota jumped again in the polls to #12 in the AVCA D1 poll this week. The Gophers have rocketed up 11 places in two weeks. MN is 13-1 with all their players in place.
This weekend will be a good test with strong #24 Ohio State and #2 Penn State teams showing up at the Pavillion. If you like great college volleyball this will be the place this weekend.

Malama Peniata grabbed her 2nd defensive player of the week honors in the Big 10. The offensive award was shared by Anna Szerszen, Ohio State and Megan Hodge, Penn State both freshmen hitters.

MORE AWARDS
D2
NORTH CENTRAL
UM Duluth picked up two North Central awards yesterday with Vicky Braegelmann winning her 6th offensive award, and Katie Gangelhoff winning her 5th setter award. Braegelmann shared the offensive award with Carlie Christensen of Nebraska Omaha. It was Christensen's first honor.
The only non UMD award winner was Christina Reicks, Nebraska Omaha for the defensive player of the week. It was win number three for Reicks who now has tied Chelsea Meierotto, UMD for the most honors.

NORTHERN SUN
Jessica Lucia, Concordia St. Paul won her 3rd Northern Sun offensive award putting her in a tie with Erin Contons of SW MN State. Maggie McNamara of CSP also picked up the setter award her 5th this year.
Melanie Perez of Northern State broke the Concordia run with her 4th defensive award.

A big non con match today: #4 UM Duluth travels to #6 Concordia St. Paul with the #1 ranking in the North Central section on the line.

UM Crookston is battling Bemidji State for the 7th spot in the Northern Sun. No one wants to face Concordia St. Paul in the first round.

The MIAC site wasn't responding this morning so I can't give you those winners.
However the setter award does go to Audrey Volstad of St. Olaf. story from the West Central Tribune.

UMAC
The UMAC winners this week were
Sarah Whitmore, Northwestern, MN for offense along with teammate Sarah Zosel for setting. Jennifer Bourdon of Presentation took defensive honors.

Crown beat Northland in four last night.

FINAL HS POLL
The top spots didn't change in the last MN HS poll. Minneota was the only unanimous #1. DGF had four first place votes in AA with Jordan taking three. The only team to get a vote for #1 other than Chaska was Owatonna.

HS SEEDS
The Star Tribune looks at the section tournaments with ministate tournament in 6AAA the main focus.
The Isanti County News goes over the seeds with Cambridge-Isanti and Braham in the upcoming HS playoffs.

SECTION PLAYDOWNS
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton dodged a bullet and won their first contest in 3AA in a four game win over Canby. from the Marshall Independent.
Luverne swept Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial to open 3AA play. From the Worthington Daily Globe.
Scroll down in the St. Cloud Times to get to the St. Cloud Cathedral/Zimmerman contest won by SCC.

CAMDEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Minneota won the Camden championship in a four game win over Lakeview. The only flaw was a game three loss. That was Minneota's only game loss in conference this year. From the Marshall Independent.

Here are boxes from the Duluth News Tribune with Carlton's five game win over Hermantown leading the way.
More Boxes in the Grand Forks Herald. with the 5 game match between Lake of the Woods and Kittson Central the highlight.

LAST WEEK
Underwood finished 4th in their own tournament last Thursday. Wheaton walked off with the top spot. In the same article Fergus Falls CC was 1-3 in a crossover tournament at Central Lakes.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
ASSISTS
5 games
AA
Morgan Pieper, Warroad 55 vs Bagley 3-2
Sannie Olson, Hermantown 49 vs Carlton 2-3
4 games
NAIA
Annette Case, Crown 51 vs Northland 3-1
AA
Lindsay Daniels, TMB 38 vs Canby 3-1

DIGS
4 games
NAIA
Melissa Anderson, Northland 20 vs Crown 1-3
AA
Shelbie Jones, TMB 23 vs Canby 3-1

KILLS
5 games
AAA
Blair Murphy, Hermantown 27 vs Carlton 2-3
AA
Katie Rygh, Warroad 24 vs Bagley 3-2
Devin Trefz, Bagley 20 vs Warroad 2-3
Nicole Olson, Lake of the Woods 19 vs Kittson Central 3-2
Danielle Soukkala, Carlton 17 vs Hermantown 3-2
A
Whitney Langen, Kittson Central 19 vs Lake of the Woods 2-3
4 games
NAIA
Jennifer Sunwall, Crown 31 vs Northland 3-1
Melissa Anderson, Northland 23 vs Crown 1-3
Danielle Schiebout, Crown 18 vs Northland 3-1
AA
Michele Lanoue, TMB 19 vs Canby 3-1
A
Claire Kopfmann, Minneota 19 vs Lakeview 3-1
Alyssa Buysse, Minneota 16 vs Lakeview 3-1
Steph Boulton, Minneota 15 vs Lakeview 3-1

Next up: later today in the evening

5 in 5AAA

#2 posting 10.23.2006
your daily dose of girls volleybal news & information

SECTION 5AAA ACTION
It was the opening of the tournament season tonight and there were three games at Mpls Henry. Two contests went the distance in five. One was over & out in three.

In the first match was between #16 North and #17 Roosevelt with Roosevelt coming out on top in five. Roosevelt took game one 25-22. The Teddies led 14-5 and 23-10. North's Debbie Hulbert then served up nine points to close the gap to 23-20. In that string North's Chaundera Riley had five kills. Roosevelt got the side out, but missed their serve. North added one point on a four hit error by Roosevelt. A Riley passing error ended the game.
North won game two 25-20. The game was tied at 20 when after a side out, Hulbert served out with four straight points.
Roosevelt took control of game three early with a 10-3 lead with Selamawit Teffera's six straight points including four straight aces. Roosevelt led 20-10 after Roosevelt's Kiana Williams serve. North did close to 22-18, but three straight side outs and a North hitting error ended the game at 25-19.
The fourth game I was with my team, but North won 25-17 forcing game five.
Roosevelt established themselves early with a 8-2 lead. North tried to stop the momentum at 7-2. North did close to 9-7, but a kill by Roosevelt's Celia Thomas gave the edge back to the Teddies. After that I had to go into the hall for the coin flip for our game.

The #12St. Anthony/#13Minneapolis Henry game also went five, but the route was a bit different.
St. Anthony won the first two games with the first a 25-23 nailbiter. Henry led 22-21, but was in the net to tie it at 22. St.A had a kill off the middle, but then missed their serve. The next two points went to St. Anthony due to hitting errors.
Game two St. Anthony steamrolled Henry 25-9. Angela Melland of St. Anthony served up seven points to make it 13-2. It didn't improve for Henry after that with Nicole Binder serving the last five points.
Game three marked Henry's comeback, but it was a comeback only true in storybooks. St. Anthony led 9-1 after their first two servers. On top of that Henry's first eight servers in that game all ended their serve on a miss. St. Anthony led 23-20, but missed their serve to give it back to Henry. Wendy Vang came in and served the last four points to give Henry their first win 25-23.
Game four was another magical comeback for Henry. The Patriots did take their first lead after Stef Zappa's serve 11-10. They maintained the lead until Margi Huss served up six straight for St. Anthony to give them the momentum and lead 22-17. They too missed their serve to make it 22-18. Courtney Phillips served three straight points and then Wendy Vang came in to get the next two to make it 23-22. A hitting error gave the ball back to St. A. A missed serve gave the ball back and on Zappa's serve St. Anthony had a serving error to end it 25-23.
Henry won the toss and the serve. Zappa got the first ball in, but missed her next serve. The energy and emotion involved got the adrenaline carousing through the veins for Henry and the balls were hit with a bit more oomph. Henry never got the critical first ball side out and it was over after three servers 15-5. It marked the second straight year St. Anthony ended Henry's season in five games. It marked the third straight year Henry lost in the opening round in five games.

In the final game of the night #9Minneapolis South beat Roosevelt in three 8, 16, 10. In game two South had many hitting errors that resulted in Roosevelt points.

Next up: tomorrow morning with more results